Several stories set in Zagreb. Teenager Martin has trouble sleeping, and is picked up by his mother Martina at the airport. She is angry that he resorts to alcohol during nights. Martina takes a vacation to visit her husband working abroad... Jadranka is in a relationship with Alen, who never takes off a sock from his left foot, not even during sex. He finally admits the reason: years ago, some guys tattooed the word "prick" on his foot when he was asleep... Sanja returns from abroad after the company of her father went belly up, but she is annoyed because she has to stay with her strict grandma and lazy grandpa who wants to reach the age of 150... Sanja's niece Tamara is a poet whose poem won a prize... Tamara's brother Matija hangs around with an arogant philosopher, Stjepan... Tamara and her friend take a plane to Barcelona.
Independent 'slice-of-life' anthology drama "Slow Days" (literal translation "Come on, day... Pass...") caused quite a sensation in Croatian cinema, with critics praising it as the fresh voice of a new generation that is able to produce their own films, establishing director Matija Klukovic as a blend between "Croatian Jarmusch" (due to its independent roots and black-and-white cinematography) and "Croatian Altman" (due to its large ensamble with almost twenty characters). Despite a typical setting of depressive people, "Slow Days" avoids the cliches of Croatian heavy-handed melodramas due to its sense for authentic characters and several funny dialogues, as well as unusual shot compositions and camera angles which give it a dynamic charge. Several unusual lines stand out: for instance, angry that her teenage son Martin secretly drinks because he can't sleep, his mother Martina says: "You don't even have hair on your dick, and already you are acting like an alcoholic!"
A stand out is the excellent actress Nina Benovic as Tamara, who has some of the best moments. One such is when she and her friend observe seven paper sketches on the table made before she was even born, by her father, a painter, who tried to envisage how she could look like when she grows up, so the two try to pick the sketch that rsembles her face the most. In another, while walking through the Ilica street at night, Tamara stops, jumps back and says she sometimes does that to imagine how it would be like to kiss her own ass. A nice opening at the airport bar is given by novelist Predrag Raos, who complains: "Everyone has his own logic. That's why nobody never understands anybody." While Martina is talking with Martin in their apartment, she plays with the key on the ground with her feet. However, some episodes are better, while others are weaker and should have been cut: for instance, the one revolving around grandma and grandpa are boring; the one with a waitress moving furniture leads nowhere; whereas especially unsuccessful is the one with the intolerably pretentious youngster-philosopher Stjepan (ironically played by director Klukovic himself). Not every dialogue works, since a fair share of them is routine and empty. There are too many episodes, and the point at the end isn't quite clear (trying to escape from the 'grey routine' by taking a flight to another country), losing focus, yet overall this movie has enough spirit, intelligence and inspiration to work, while also giving a loving homage to Zagreb as a whole.
Grade:+++
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