La parade

I think that movie is very helpful, because it deals with all "Serbian problems" with humor. It's emotionally heavy and deep story, but also very comical - which is the only way, in my opinion, that can change someone's beliefs, or at least, make people think about the situation around here. Movie as a movie is very good and interesting, and it awakes emotions of happiness and sadness. Plot is, in the least, hilarious. It is about very serious topics and issues, which we, as a people, created on our own. Prejudice that we create, everyone of us, whether we are Serbs, gay, straight, Albanians, Croats, Bosnians or someone else . Maybe one of the best movies of Srdjan Dragojevic.

'Parada' was the most popular film in the Berlin Festival this year, bagging both audience awards yet not the LGBT 'Teddy Award'. That illustrates both its strength and weakness as a film: intended to induce a positive image about homosexuals in a non-gay audience, it does an admirable job in combining drama and comedy, tears and laughs. Yet at the same time, the gay characters are so terribly cliché that, in a different setting, they could be also used to narrate a viciously homophobic story.

That this is not the case is due to the scriptwriting talents of Srdan Dragojevic, who makes every single character, gay or not, a walking cliché of ex-Yugoslavia. The ex-militia gangster, tattooed all over with battle reminders around bullet wounds, resorting to protecting a gay pride march at the behest of his 'slut-with-a-golden-heart' fiancée, is about as credible as the effeminate wedding planner insisting on organizing the pride in spite of organized acts of violence by a group of nationalist skinheads lead by, as it turns out, the gangster's son. Add to this the soft-hearted vet who saves his dog and turns out to be the wedding planner's partner, with whom the gangster embarks on a journey through ex-Yugoslavia to enlist the help of other ex-soldiers, who, for reasons not sufficiently explained, became his friends while being his enemies at the same time... the plot is indeed as convoluted and incredible as this summary sounds like.

Yet Dragojevic's writing constantly adds jokes and situational comedy, he reveals himself here to be indeed the creator of the beloved classic 'We are no Angels'. The eclectic mix between comedy and drama makes this pretty much a must-see, as does the tremendous success 'Parada' enjoyed at home and in its festival run. Just don't expect any real portrayal of gay life in the Balkans; having been born in Romania, I fully understand that for a homosexual in Belgrade, this film must come rather as an offense than a relief. Yet as one cannot explain quantum theory in primary school, the clichés in this film are probably a necessary evil: you have to work with what people already (believe to) know in order to educate them and change their attitude. If this film succeeds in making cliché gays more acceptable in the mainstream, then maybe this will color off into a broader acceptance of the fact that the public knows very little about homosexuality and therefore has no reason to feel threatened by it; in that case 'Parada' would have done its job of opening minds, aside of being a pretty entertaining experience.

I think it is really a great movie. I watched it with my girlfriend in the theater and we were both pretty excited and under great impressions even the day after. The story had a nice, smooth humorous way to steel into the auditions collective consciousness and to make them all laugh out loud. Despite the funny dialogues and the scenes, the story has a deep metaphor which is quite serious and initiates you to think about. The movie characters are each of them from a different ex-Yugoslav republic. Mostly of them were in war against each other, but built friendships after the wars were over (despite the nationalism, opposite politics and ethnic diversity - they united to fight together). Now they built a team to fight for the gays (which represent metaphorically the emotional and peaceful character in humans) in their gay parade in Belgrade which should be organized in close future. Everybody is against them, skinheads are sharpening their knives, while preparing for the final fight (they are representing the brutal, aggressive nature in human). The fight for peace and freedom begins, bringing some adrenalin and rage to audition to fight back against the distorted society.

I find this movie ground-breaking and beautifully made. I will slightly base this writing on the review of the user "mmajstor", who - as a Serbian - knows the situation in the country best, but I want to share my view on the problems he exposed. I'm a gay from Slovenia, which is the most gay-friendly of the ex-Yugoslavian countries. Pride parades take place regularly for the last 11 years and we always experience sadness when hearing the unpleasant stories of parades in Croatia and Serbia, the latter being one of the most homophobic countries in Europe. Making a movie about homosexuality is already the reason to bow before Dragojevic (the director), who experienced homophobic attacks while making this film. And even more, made a really good one.

Of course, the movie is a bit idealistic, that was the point. Gay movies are depressing as it is, there's no point in just showing gay bashing, because in the case of Serbia that could be a simple documentary. This movie was made to give hope to people. I admit that the characters are a bit stereotypical, not all homosexuals are like that, but some of them ARE and they should be allowed to walk freely outside as anybody else. And as mmajstor said "I don't think that gay population would be satisfied with the presented picture of them", in the case of me and my friends, we were laughing the loudest in the cinema because we got the inside jokes. And already like this, the movie was very provocative, so I wouldn't tease the local public with harsher topics for the start, because I think the movie was made mainly to educate. If this was the primary goal, I believe it did well. It showed that gays as well as straights can get beat up for the same reasons, for love. It showed that people can change and that giving a chance to somebody can result in personal growth. It had to show the situation to the locals from the Serbian point of view, because only this way people can relate to it and not think "it's just another one of those American Sodoma-and-Gomorrah movies" - it's something that happens in your country, in your town.

And finally, the idea of teaming up ex-enemies to protect Serbian gays is pretty far-fetched, but absurdly hilarious and slightly nostalgic.

Basically, my opinion is that this was a wonderfully made film and I hope it will made people think. Really think.

Having won several festival awards, among others the audience award at Berlin International Film Festival, "The Parade" (2011) is the sixth feature film by Serbian writer- director Srdjan Dragojevic. It's a well-working blend of drama and hilarious comedy.

//Mårten Larsson. Facebook page: 7thArtShortReviews (@7thArtShortRevs).