Review by tkoncilija

Based on a novel which won the highest national cultural award, the story of young Marko is not a comedy, but a many-sided drama. I admit my skepticism when I heard about making it into a film – since the quality of the novel is not just its story, but also the way it is told: the language and the little details transform the tragic outline into a pure literary delight.

If you experienced the uneasiness of the relations between immigrants and "natives": it makes you choose sides and you rarely get the chance to really experience the world from the other's point of view. It was the same case for me – after being annoyed with the southern "čefurs" in the elementary school, our ways parted after it and went on our separate tracks, never to meet again. I completely forgot about them, and Goran's book a few years ago shook up my comfortable little world. I finally understood why were those guys calling us names and constantly nagging in the classroom; why they admired their annoying music and were only interested in sports.

Back to the movie version: it keeps the narrator from the book, enabling the viewer to see the story from his point of view. And despite the fact that it's fiction, it remains completely realistic – you keep thinking these are the exact same words a "čefur" would use in such situation, this is the exact way he would react. You see them, guys from your town, coming alive on the big screen. And you were never this close to them.

The performance of the lead actor is astonishing (or maybe I'm just not used to see such a performance from a Slovenian actor) – the story is told through his eyes and when the plot thickens you do not merely feel FOR him, you feel WITH him. Which is a feeling I rarely get when watching films. Sincerely, thank you Goran for this touching insight. Hvala ti!