Ljudozder vegetarijanac

at first sigh, it seems be not easy for a not East European to understand this provocative film. it could be define as thriller, as dark comedy, as satire or, so simple, as horror. but , basically, it is a fresco of a system work. corrupted, fake, egocentric, interested by appearances, brutal, hypocritical. and its virtue is to be the film of a real good director who reminds more than presents for a public familiar with the realities from health system.a Croatian movie who has the great virtue to be honest about everyday sins. because it is a film about the importance of appearances. about a not comfortable form of survive of mediocrity. and, sure, about the low price of the life of the other. a story from the East. nothing more.

Cannibal Vegetarian is the second movie that was created based on the book of well-known Croatian writer Ivo Balenovic. The first movie, which was created based on the books Metastases earned the title of one of the best modern Croatian movies.

I expected this movie will repeat or at least closer to such a success, but I remained disappointed. The story is fragmented, with no real flow. The main actor Rene Bitorajac, does not look convincing in the role of problematic of real ending, a climax. The only positive surprise in the movie is soundtrack. All in all, watchable if you are interested in Croatian movies. The book is far better.

It's all Rene Bitorajac show in a smirking performance as Danko Babic. A ruthless, ambitious and unscrupulous gynecologist who will do anything to get to the top of his profession including accepting bribery from patients and sabotaging other doctors reputation through mischievous methods. He is in bed with corrupt cops and local thugs to falsify medical conditions just for the money. Like the famous Madonna song, Danko is a material guy and he is living in a material world.

But the sh*t is about to hit the fan for the good doctor when the chicken come home to roost in shape of sloppy malpractices and investigation into his conduct by both the clinic and later the police. In particular when he starts performing dangerous abortions on sex workers owned by a dangerous criminal. But does Danka even care about the consequences or feel remorse at all? The answer is left to the viewers to decide.

Paints an unflattering view of Croatian professionals in general. Doctors are depicted as either corrupt or inconsiderate folks worrying more about lawsuits than about the patient. Nurses are portrayed as equal opportunist though it's more of a unrequited love in case of Babic's loyal assistant Lana (talented Natasa Janjic in a thankless role). Disgusting jokes and racial taunts seems to be the norm. The less said about the police the better.

It seems Branko Schmidt (writer/director) is using the character of Danko as some sort of a template…a mirror of Croatian crumbling moral values amid self-serving greed. The nobility of the titular profession is tainted by Danko's employing his abilities as a gynecologist for reprehensible purposes. Unique resolution will divide viewers.

The gory and surgical procedure segments are mostly implied. That actually makes it tougher to watch more so if you're pro-life.

Thought I wold give this one a try. I wish I had not.

The pace of the movie is at fast forward through the whole thing, it snaps from scene to scene in incoherent leaps. The who's who and what's what takes you most of the first hour to get. The last 20 minutes is just a mess, and then its over. There seems to be no point or message, and when the movie ends it just ends, without any real ending. I'm miss context and substance, and I must say, the acting is mediocre at its best.

I could pick and poke at this flick for pages and pages on, but I'll leave it at that.

Unless you are especially interested in Croatian film; give this one a miss, it just ain't worth it!

An excellent recent (roughly speaking) Croatian film, and that's a rarity, at least when it comes to me. The collaboration between director Schmidt and the main actor Bitorajac is repeated after Metastases, only here Bitorajac has much more freedom and screen time and once again we have a great film as a result. It's quite dark and at times even painful. The title is genius. Relationships and behavior towards certain people, when there is some benefit, are shown excellently. The symbiosis of legal and criminal actions looks quite realistic. One of the better Croatian main roles in recent history. Not for everyone.