This bittersweet comedy is set in a tiny, rustic village where Serbs and Muslims still carry memories of war, where arms caches continue to be uncovered and an uneasy peace reigns.
The town has a mayor, but a gangster and a cop really rule the roost. Cocky, lank-haired operator Velija owns the local brothel - controlling imported girls by confiscating their passports - and illegally runs Kurdish and Chinese people into Croatia for a tidy profit. The local chief of police provides Velija's business with protection in return for a healthy cut. International inspectors are trying to re-educate - and foster harmony among - the local fire brigade of Serbs and Muslims; things work after a fashion, but hatreds run deep - returning Serbs are shunned and verbal abuse is commonplace.
Everything changes, though, with the announcement that Bill Clinton will be visiting their village in the next few days. Crime has to be swept under the carpet and a false, but clean, facade must be erected.
With its wonderful mix of gently farcical elements reminiscent of so many great Yugoslav films of previous eras (Milos Forman's The Firemen's Ball also comes to mind), Zalica's portrait of post-war Bosnia is loving, but brutally honest. His ironic eye poignantly registers tragedy all around - most notably in the moving portrait of the former police chief, Zaim, who mourns the adult son he lost in the war. When Zaim digs his gun out of the garden and sets off to settle scores on the eve of the President's visit, drama is imminent.
Fuse is a remarkable work about a catastrophic legacy, told with humour and an unerring sense of the irrational, very real tragedy of the Bosnian war.
