Déjà vu

Vec vidjeno is the gem in Goran Markovic`s opus. Markovic is in my opinion the best Yugoslav director of all time, and his movies in a satirical way perfectly portrayed society and social distorsions in Yugoslavia at the end of 70`s and up to the mid 80`s. Vec vidjeno (or also known as Deja Vu), is however looking on the other side of life, and horror, with the unavoidable elements of society`s flaws, raging from before World war II, up to mid 70`s where the plot is set. This is the most complete, griping and artistic Yugoslav movie that takes you by surprise and stares right in your face up to the very end

This movie is a Yugoslav hidden gem. In my opinion, definitely in top 3 Yugoslav movies. The acting of Mustafa Nadarevic is superior, but other actors did a great job as well.

This movie reminded me of Hitchcock's movies, except that this movie is even better. I would like to add that the director Goran Markovic not only directed this movie but also wrote the story, so I have a huge respect and admiration for this man.

It covers interesting topics such as trauma from the events that happened in protagonist's youth- from communists bumping into his family's apartment, taking it over and dividing it in half to trauma from his parent's fighting and divorce, etc. When a new woman arrives to his workplace and he becomes intimate with her, the protagonist starts experiencing deja vu's often and over time loses his sanity which is going to lead to fatal consequences.

Once a promising concert pianist, slaphead Mihailo (Mustafa Nadarevic) teaches music at a university, where he falls for pretty fashion expert Olgica (Anica Dobra), who uses men as her playthings. Starting a sexual relationship with Mihailo, Olgica tries to convince him to perform in a televised stage show that she is producing, which she hopes will make her famous and enable her to move out of the small apartment that she shares with her alcoholic father and younger brother. However, Mihailo begins to lose his marbles when events start to mirror his troubled childhood, and after Olgica ditches him for a karate instructor, the pianist is pushed over the edge and becomes homicidal.

There's not really much in the way of horror in Reflections, the majority of the film focussing on Mihail's deteriorating mental state, flashbacks to his formative years, and Olgica's ruthless manipulation of men, but it still held my attention thanks to decent performances and an intriguing storyline. The film eventually delivers some suspense and nasty violence in the final act, when Mihailo has his murderous meltdown, the insane ivory tickler pinning Olgica's father to a door with a knife, stalking her brother, and slicing the karate dude with a sabre (the man's almost severed hand flapping around, hanging by a strip of flesh). Olgica pays for her scheming ways when Mihailo throttles her as she is showering (even in communist Yugoslavia, they understand the importance of a gratuitous shower scene!).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Now I'm not saying this is a masterpiece, but it is nonetheless a very interesting movie. It is definitely worth seeing, if you get a chance.

The storyline follows the life of a child whose posh family disintegrated following the arrival of communists in Belgrade, Serbia.

The loss of his family, societal status and dignity and the perceived lack of morals in the communist society drives him further and further away from the mainstream and into loneliness, depression and murderous obsession.

The movie maybe tries a little too hard to represent the post-war communist society as a parade of ignorant, unsophisticated and violent peasants, freshly arrived from the mountains and villages but already ruling every aspect of the new society.

The film is really about violence, and about painful changes in society that war and violent revolutions bring.

In my opinion, "Vec vidjeno" is the best movie of Goran Markovic (and all of them are great), one of the best Serbian directors.

It's done in cognizable Markovic's way. The story is great (it is by Markovic, also), acting of Mustafa Nadarevic is superb, Zoran Smijanovic's music is excellent as everything else in this movie.

It is a horror movie, which is not a typical Yugoslav genre, [besides "Davitelj protiv davitelja" (which is more like comedy) and "Leptirica" I can't think of another], but it is done in a way that Hitchcock would envy.

If any film deserves the Oscar then this is the one!