Papà... è in viaggio d'affari

I saw this film one month ago for the first time and I've been really impressed! After having seen the film, I decided to go to Croatia, because I wanted to see what Communism created in ex-Yugoslavia. This film made me curious about history and people of Ex-Yugoslavia. It has been really a lesson for me; everybody should see this movie.

I saw this movie in 1990 at a local university campus cinema, found it lovely and painful at the same time. My viewing time was the time of a new beginning to the former Eastern Bloc. Now most of its communist 'allied' are seeking seats with EU or NATO. Later in the same year, I paid a visit to Croatia, what a stunning experience. The natural beauty and the Roman remains are the most impressive. From Monarchy to Communist and to Capitalist, all happened within 100 years, the people of that region have undergone a century's bloody tragedies. Yugoslavia is now a word of past tense, it was divided into several countries, some enjoy peace and some are perpetually in war since the downfall of the bloc in early nineties.

Amongst all the countries there, Yugoslavia somehow enjoyed more liberty and material comfort (some from Italy and Greece) than the others because Tito decisively broke the connection from Stalin. From what I got from the mouths of the Yugoslavians (in 1990), they all respected Tito's determination and boldness.

Malik's womanizer father (Miki Manojlovic) was set up by a woman relative, attractive Ankica (Mira Furlan) after he successfully seduced and then refused her. He was sent to do hard and laborious work far away from home. Little Malik (Moreno D'E Bartolli) wonders why daddy cannot come home often, though his mom keeps telling him that father is on business, he can smell a rat there. Later, when father comes back, he has his retribution on that woman.

The Zolj family is of Jewish origin. The circumcision scene and the later bath of the boy are absolutely comical. Though in difficult time, the innocence of children is expressed in great lovely details, Malik's interest in other sex, his father's predicament… The filming location was Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a place where the Jews and Muslims were killing each other. Kosovo is another long-stay pain. The body and soul of this region will take a long long time to restore. Just wondering what had happened to Moreno D'E Bartolli after all these years, he should have turned 29 this year.

Emir Kusturica is one of the many shining gems in Central and Eastern Europe film industry, who are waiting for the world's more exploration and attention.

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Thanks go to IMDb-ian rijecka_sirena (USA) for the rectifications (dd 30 August 2006) on my commentary (dd 22 April 2004) for the following:

1. The Zolj is a Bosnian Muslim family so there is a circumcision.

2. The neighbor is Bosnian Serbian family.

3. Ankica is Bosnian Croatian (mostly Roman Catholics).

(Acknowledged on 1 January 2007)

There have been several movies about the adult world as seen by children. "Daniel" and "Matinee" are good examples from the United States. A good one from the former Yugoslavia is Emir Kusturica's "Otac na sluzbenom putu" ("When Father Was Away on Business" in English).

When Sarajevo man Mesa is arrested in 1950 for criticizing a cartoon, his wife Sena has to tell son Malik that the dad is on a business trip. As the movie progresses, Malik comes to understand the political status quo in this country straddling east and west.* Moreover, it becomes clear that Mesa is not the world's most responsible person, preferring to go screw attractive women to raising his son.

One thing is that I like seeing films about cultures that we rarely see. Beyond that, this look at political tensions - and how the boy has to learn about sex on his own - fascinates me. I definitely recommend the movie.

PS: Emir Kusturica also directed "Arizona Dream" (starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway) in the United States) and "Black Cat, White Cat" back in his native country.

*Tito's disagreements with Stalin led to Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Eastern Bloc, so it aligned itself with the west but maintained an Eastern Bloc-style government.

I remember when I saw this movie back in 1986, the people I was with left the theater bored and puzzled because of my reaction to the movie. I can't explain quite well what was that fascinated me so much about the story. I think it was because you can breathe the reality of the story, I swear I was there with the little boy and the suffering of the family. I was there, understanding the complexity, but simplicity at the same time, of the people and history of that part of the world. It is a movie you have to watch to understand and let it take you where Kusturica wants to.

I was very impressed with When Father was Away on Business; it is more coherent and moving than Black Cat, White cat, which I saw last week. The family structure is very well evoked, with three generations living in the house. The grandfather just wants to be left out of politics--for him Hitler and Stalin are pretty much the same. Mesa and Sena, the couple doomed to be separated for two years, are up to their ears in party machinations. Zijo, the brother in law, has sent Mesa to the mines for re-education, because his soon-to-be wife Ankica denounced the feckless Mesa when he wouldn't divorce Sena to marry her. In a totalitarian state, a lot depends on not annoying your relatives.

Miki Manojlovic is great as Mesa; he reminds me of Raimu occasionally. The wedding scene, when he effects a reconciliation with Zijo, is very poignant. Slobodan Aligrudic plays Cekic, the party boss who oversees Mesa's rehabilitation and finally sends him home to Sarajevo: he is affable (always wants to share a drink, play chess and so on) but the brutality is always close to the surface. Little Malik, the boy who tries to make sense of what the adults are doing, communicates a lot of joy and sorrow.