April Captains

Capitães de Abril; historical drama, Portugal / France / Spain / Italy, 2000; D: Maria de Medeiros, S: Stefano Accorsi, Joaquim de Almeida, Frédéric Pierrot, Fele Martinez, Maria de Medeiros, Manuel João Vieira, Marcantónio del Carlo, Rita Durão

Lisbon, 25 April 1 9 7 4. Portugal is waging colonial wars in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, under the dictatorship of Marcelo Caetano called Estado Novo. Fed up with this state, Captain Salgueiro Maia wakes up soldiers from his barrack in Santarem in the middle of the night, and tells them he will start a coup d'état to bring back democracy. Disillusioned by wars, most soldiers, including Major Gervasio, follow him in a military column to Lisbon. They take over the building of the Minister of Defense and encounter almost no opposition. The people on the streets support them. Dictator Caetano and his staff flee to a military barrack and shoot at people, but are surrounded and eventually agree in negotiations led by Maia to evacuate. Caetano flees to Brazil. The revolution ends in a day, and only 4 people are killed. Portugal is transformed into a democracy. Professor Antonia's lover Emilio is released from prison, but this means the end of her marriage with Manuel, a military officer. 

The first feature length narrative film about the Carnation Revolution, "April Captains" is one of the happiest, most uplifting and optimistic movies you will ever see. It is comprised out of pure idealism, so much so that it soothes the soul, and it is even more incredible that all this really happened. It is the feature length debut film of actress Maria de Medeiros ("Pulp Fiction", "Henry & June") who hereby gives a detailed chronicle of Portuguese history: it has such a natural story flow that once you start watching, you get addicted and have to see it to the end, whereas the whole storyline is filled with engaging little details that are easy to identify with. The setting is already established in one sequence in a pub, where military officer Manuel returns from fighting in Africa, and stretches out his hand to his acquaintance Virgilio, a leftist old man, but the latter does not accept it: "Don't give me your hand because I won't shake it!" Later on, Virgilio insults him and other Portuguese soldiers, calling them "professional killers" who "enjoy killing Blacks". The dictatorship is shown in other scenes as beneath contempt: an interrogator questions student activist Emilio, reading out a political movement from his report: "RMLP - TML. This ideology isn't for the illiterate." 

Nonetheless, the revolution is never presented as black-and-white: there are several unusual, but historically accurate situations that are highly comical. For instance, four soldiers in civilian clothing actually locked themselves out of their own car during the night—but were saved by a police officer who helped them break into said car using a knife. The four soldiers later start taking their civilian clothes off to dress into military uniforms, but two gay men knock on their window, mistaking them for something else. Finally, when the four soldiers arrive to the radio station, they knock, a man opens the door, and a soldier introduces himself: "Coup d'état, may we enter?" The main highlight is the protagonist, Captain Salgueiro Maia (excellent Stefano Accorsi) whose indestructible enthusiasm and elation are so contagious that they don't only charm all the 200 soldiers to follow him, but also all the viewers, too. This is a rare example where a youth's energy is so positive that it galvanizes and transmits this to the energy of the entire film. One of the most ingenious tricks he plays is the one where he places news of a coup d'état, so the Minister of Defense lets a military unit inside, ostensibly for protection from said coup d'état threat—only to find out the military unit they received is actually Maia's, who now has them under his control. Portuguese cinema is often on the margins, out of the zone of interest of Europeans, but by highlighting the Carnation Revolution, which kicked off the Third Wave of Democracy, this film somehow made Portugal cinematically immortal. Most of the best best movies of certain countries are often depressive, dark, negative—but "April Captains" is a rare instance where one of the best Portuguese movies is also one of the most positive ones. 

Grade:+++

The Green Years

Os Verdes Anos; drama, Portugal, 1963; D: Paulo Rocha, S: Rui Gomes, Isabel Ruth, Ruy Furtado, Paulo Renato

Lisbon. Villager Julio (19) arrives to the city via the main train terminal to stay with his uncle Afonso, who secured him a job as an apprentice at the shoemaker Raul. Julio meets maid Ilda and they start a relationship. Julio is both fascinated and overwhelmed by the metropolis. When Afonso tells him he shouldn't see Ilda anymore, Julio starts a fight with him in a pub, but is saved by a British tourist. Julio proposes Ilda, but she refuses because he doesn't have enough money for them to live alone. Julio arrives one evening at the apartment of Ilda's boss, telling he wants to talk to her. When the boss leaves them alone, Julio stabs Ilda with a knife and flees on the street.

Voted in one local poll as the best Portuguese film of the 20th century, "The Green Years" is an intelligent, calm, restrained and subtle depiction of a clash between the rural and urban mentalities, but it is still fairly overrated and dull. The director Paulo Rocha depicts the change of the 19-year old protagonist Julio from an innocent, introverted, humble lad from the village at the beginning up to an extroverted, aggressive and spoiled brat in the end, caused by his life in the metropolis. It speaks about the unspoken psychological currents urban people are unaware off, since this is simply the hectic way of life in the cities. Some contemplations about certain life observations are clever, for instance: "But when you become a man, it's a different kind of romance. The kind of that forces you to straighten out your life, to the point that others can't mess it up" or: "For him, the only man who is not a fool is the one who makes fools of others." The main weight of the film is the love story between Julio and Ilda (very good Isabel Ruth), but it is of varying success, since some episodes are monotone and grey, while others are more interesting (for instance, the sequence where Ilda proudly wears all the fancy dresses of her boss for Julio). Unfortunately, despite these formalities, the movie is not that engaging in its substance, which is a tad too bland, since "The Green Years" are never quite able to "heat up" the inclination of the viewers, not even in the drastic ending which feels more like a stunt than a real conclusion to this story.

Grade:++

The Wedding

Svadba; comedy, Croatia / Serbia, 2026; D: Igor Šeregi, S: Rene Bitorajac, Dragan Bjelogrlić, Linda Begonja, Vesna Trivalić, Nika Grbelja, Marko Grabež, Roko Sikavica, Anđelka Stević Žugić

Miljenko, the owner of the Zagreb chain store Cromax, is shocked when his daughter Ana, working in London, phones him on his birthday and reveals she is pregnant with Nebojša, a Serb. Nebojša's dad, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Vuk, is also shocked to find out his soon to be daughter-in-law is a Croat. However, since Miljenko is in debt, and he could clear it by expanding to Serbia's market, whereas Vuk wants to finance a Belgrade metro, but its EU funds are frozen due to a veto of a Croatian politician, the two men decide to accept the wedding between Ana and Nebojša to mutually settle their business problems. The wedding is planned in Crikvenica, but a lot of problems arise, including if it should be a Catholic or an Orthodox wedding. Nebojša and Ana wed outside of this chaos on a boat by a skipper. Ana gives birth and the families reconcile. 

Croat-Serb relations often make for good movie topics, and Igor Seregi's "The Wedding", which thematizes a wedding between two Croat-Serb families, surprisingly became the highest-grossing Croatian film up until that time, with over 400,000 tickets sold at the local box office. The first 20 minutes of "The Wedding" are good because they deliciously set up the quirky concept, and several jokes are good there (for instance, Nebojsa having a video call with his parents to tell them about his pregnant girlfriend, telling vaguely that she is "from our areas"; when Miljenko says that there will be no official photograph of the wedding, which will be handled by grandma, who adds: "I will only photograph our side of family!"). But after that (starting from around the entrance of the rapper), the film slowly fades away, and the remainder is just a routine empty walk on auto-pilot. The actors are enthusiastically speaking out their mediocre lines, but at the end of the day, they are still just mediocre lines. The film is a blend of a soap opera and a sitcom, without a more versatile creative latitude. It's as if they just wrote some good jokes at the start, and then just gave up and delivered a standard, thin storyline without inspiration. The lazy finale seems to have been just added to finish the film, not to reach some climax of humor or offer some good bits. A small highlight is Serbian actress Andelka Stevic Zugic as Dragana, who has some comic authority ("We need to get a horse." - "A horse?" - "Am I in a cave with an echo, or why are my words constantly being repeated back to me?"), and she is much more interesting than the rest of the characters. Surprisingly, the wedding couple is highly marginalized and we do not find out much about them. It is a solid film, but overall, they could have made a much more imaginative story from this concept, since its potentials were left unused.  

Grade:+

Johnny Suede

Johnny Suede; comedy, USA, 1991; D: Tom DiCillo, S: Brad Pitt, Catherine Keener, Calvin Levels, Alison Moir, Michael Luciano, Samuel L. Jackson

Brooklyn. Johnny Suede wants to be a rock n' roll star. Unfortunately, his hairdo is bigger than his talent, and thus he has to work as a wall painter to pay his rent. Johnny is practicing playing guitar with his friend Deke, trying to form a band. Johnny starts a relationship with Darlette, even though her jealous boyfriend lives right across the street, and hopes to make it since Darlette's mom works for a music producer. However, Darlette finally reveals she doesn't love him. Johnny's next girlfriend is Yvonne, but he constantly postpones moving in with her. Johnny follows a woman in the subway and sleeps with her in her apartment. When he returns to Yvonne, who prepared birthday presents for him, she smells a female perfume on him and realizes he cheated on her. They argue and break up. However, Johnny later returns to Yvonne's place and says he's sorry.

An inadvertent forerunner to the cartoon character "Johnny Bravo", Tom DiCillo's feature length debut "Johnny Suede" is a vague, thin and strangely underdeveloped film. The meandering story without a clear goal or purpose is all over the place, hopping from episode to episode, all until the disappointing, inconclusive ending which feels like a cop-out. Nonetheless, it is notable for featuring the then unknown Brad Pitt in one of his early leading roles, here playing the swab title hero with a 6-inch hairdo sticking up above his head, allegedly done without a wig. Suede is an exaggerated, but still palpable depiction of the lower class trying to make it big by following their dream, but the harsh reality always gets in their way and leaves them right where they are. However, this grey routine somehow contaminated the whole film, which is unable to be hip enough. Some good jokes manage to lift the film up from its drab mood: for instance, the dialogue between Darlette and Johnny when they first meet at a night club: "You remind me of a prince in a fairytale." - "With that pink dress on, you remind me of a strawberry ice cream cone." In another one, Johnny is so annoyed by two men in suits in the subway train, where one imagines the love of his life will just show up eventually by destiny: "Yeah, she's out there. Somewhere." So Johnny sarcastically adds: "You know what, you're right, she is out there, in fact I just saw her in the next train, she's all dressed up as Cinderella, asking everybody if there is a stupid idiot who looks like you!" There is even a dream sequence where a dwarf stabs Johnny, which might have influenced DiCillo in his next film "Living in Oblivion". "Johnny Suede" never really connects as a whole and feels more like patchwork, but has one highlight: Catherine Keener, who is excellent in her supporting role as Yvonne, Johnny's much more consequential girlfriend.

Grade:+

Nixon

Nixon; drama, USA, 1995; D: Oliver Stone, S: Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, J. T. Walsh, James Woods, Powers Boothe, Paul Sorvino, E. G. Marshall, Bob Hoskins, David Hyde Pierce, Kevin Dunn, Fyvush Finkel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, Madeline Kahn, Dan Hedaya

A chronicle of the 37th American president Richard Nixon. As a Republican, he ran for president in 1 9 6 0, but lost in the debate against Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy. Nixon promised his wife Pat that he would not run again. However, he did and was elected president in 1 9 6 9. He continued the Vietnam War and even expanded it through US bombing of Cambodia, making him even more unpopular. However, his Chief of Staff Harry Haldeman and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger supported him. In 1 9 7 2 Nixon met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. In his second term, the Watergate scandal, a covert attempt at wiretapping the Democratic headquarters in Washington, D.C., took its toll, and under pressure, Nixon resigns in 1 9 7 4.

Despite complaints of Nixon family members, Oliver Stone's biopic is probably the most humanistic portrait possible of the 37th US president Richard Nixon without losing its balance and objectivity. Even though he hated his presidency, Stone strives towards a neutral, unbiased and professional depiction of the politician, who is here excellently played by Anthony Hopkins: he reproduces an impeccable accent of Nixon, but does not physically resemble him, and thus certain prosthetics on his nose and jawline would have been welcomed. The crystal clear cinematography by the brilliant cinematographer Robert Richardson is stunning, all the supporting roles are well cast (including Bob Hoskins as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover), whereas some insights are surprising (for instance, the detail that E. Howard Hunt blackmailed the president (!) and demanded money for his trial of the Watergate scandal). However, overall, at 3-hours of running time, "Nixon" is perplexingly unfocused and disorganized, with random, excessive scenes and overlong running time, seemingly hoping from episode to episode without some tighter grip of a narrative thread. For instance, except for Nixon and his wife Pat (Joan Allen), we do not find out much about any other character in the film, who are just random supporting wheels. Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong is handled almost superficially. Still, the movie looks modern even today, and several little details have weight (during a dinner on the yacht where he was discussing expanding the Vietnam War, Nixon's steak starts to bleed on the plate; upon Haig saying that they cannot get around the Supreme Court demanding the tapes, Nixon adds that he picked three of them there; Nixon observing Kennedy's painting: "When they look at you, they see what they want to be. When they look at me, they see what they are").

Grade:++

Vuk: The Little Fox

Vuk; animated film, Hungary, 1981; D: Attila Dargay, S: József Gyabronka, Judit Pogány, Teri Földi, Gyula Szabó

Vuk is one of the fox cubs of a lair under a tree. The fox father goes to get some chicken from the farm of a hunter, while Vuk goes out to explore the forest. The hunter follows the fox father with his dog and a gun to the lair and kills them. Vuk returns to find the lair empty, but his fox uncle Karak adopts him and brings him to a cave on a hill. Vuk grows up and continues stealing chicken from the farm, where he also saves a female fox from a cage. The hunter and his hound dogs start a giant search raid, Karak runs to distract their attention, but is shot and killed. Vuk takes his revenge by attacking the farm. The hunter places bear traps, but gets caught in them himself, together with two of his dogs. Vuk and the female fox get their own fox cubs in a lair.

The highest-grossing Hungarian film of the 80s, with over 2,400,000 tickets sold at the local box office, one of the most famous animated films by the Pannonia Film Studio, "Vuk" is more beloved in its home country than outside its borders. It did not age well. Intended as some sort of a Hungarian-wolf answer to Disney's "Bambi", "Vuk" seems more like a kids movie done in a kids way than a kids movie done in a clever, universal way which is able to keep the interest of the grown up viewers as well. The only two more ambitious moments are the dramatic, albeit restrained scenes of the murder to Vuk's family and later his uncle Karak by the hunter (we never see the faces of the human characters, who are only visible from their legs), but even they are not able to elaborate into a more emotional experience. Not much is going on, and the scenes involving the clumsy hound dogs of the hunter are too goofy, but some scenes have humor (the two geese getting drunk on the farm; Vuk liberating the female fox behind bars by taking stones away from underneath the wheels of a wagon which crashes into the cage, demolishing its bars). For the time that it was made, the animation is good, but still a bit clumsy, while it also constructs a bigger theme of the circle of life and some cycles in development, noticeable that movie basically begins and ends in the same setting. A charming, amusing animated film, yet too rudimentary, and therefore it is no match for "The Land Before Time" or "Fantastic Mr. Fox".   

Grade:++

Cat City

Macskafogó; animated spy comedy, Hungary / Canada / Germany, 1986; D: Béla Ternovszky, S: László Sinkó, Miklós Benedek, Péter Haumann, János Körmendi

Anthropomorphic mice are terrorized in their city by a crime cat syndicate led by mafioso Teufel and his boss Gatto. After the cats rob a mouse bank using a tank, the mice send their special agent Nick Grabowski to go to Professor Fushimishi in an oriental country and get a secret microfilm from him that will save the mice. Teufel, who has wiretapped the secret mouse headquarters, dispatches four rat gangsters to stop Grabowski. Upon finding Fushimishi, and the microfilm hidden in his beard, Grabowski takes his female assistant Seno San with him, but both are caught by the cats and sent to Gatto during a special cat party. However, Grabowski and San are saved by mouse police officer Dick who befriended bats who flew and helped them. The microfilm has a plan that gives the mice a secret weapon: a giant robot dog that catches all the cats and transforms them into peaceful animals.

One of the most popular animated films by the Pannonia Film Studio, "Cat City" (also translated as "Cat-Catcher") enjoys cult status in Hungary, but outside its borders, its appeal and enthusiasm doesn't quite hold up. It is a blend of James Bond-style spy films, gangster films and comedy, which is uneven, but has its bizarre moments of charm. The protagonist is supposed to be secret mouse agent Nick Grabowski, but he is featured surprisingly little, only for about a third of the film, while the cat villain Teufel is given too much screen time, almost overshadowing him. A third subplot, revolving around a mumbling mouse police officer Dick who got lost in the jungle and met some Mexican bats, is superfluous and could have been cut altogether. Nonetheless, "Cat City" has a good amount of jokes and luckily doesn't go into too abstract-surreal territory. The "Star Wars"-style opening credits are already amusing, depicting the setting as "80 AMM (Anno Mickey Mouse)", whereas someone can enter the mouse intelligence headquarters only via a "tail scan" machine, and in there a committee member complains about Grabowski: "After the King Kong situation, he told everybody that he is the 13th reincarnation of Mickey Mouse". There are themes of a stronger nation trying to dominate a weaker one, but the director Bela Ternovszky is mostly only interested in crafting a simple action comedy. It is a chaotic patchwork, but some ideas have that coveted creativity and inspiration (after jumping from the plane, Grabowski is falling from the sky holding San in his arm, but then comments that it is raining, so he ejects a parachute from his backpack, which works conveniently both as an umbrella and a softener for their landing).  

Grade:++

Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion; comedy, USA, 1995; D: Tom DiCillo, S: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck, James LeGros, Peter Dinklage

Nick is a director of an independent film. He tries to film a scene of actress Nicole playing the role of a woman confessing to her mother that her father hit her, but numerous problems keep messing up the take. In the end, a beeping sound is heard. Nick wakes up, it was all a dream... High-profile actor Chad Palomino joins the cast of Nick's film, but constantly keeps changing the place of his position with Nicole on the set, leaving him out of the frame. His arrogance causes a fight with Nick, who beats Chad and leaves him unconscious in a cab. Nicole wakes up, it was all a dream... Nick wants to direct a dream scene, but the dwarf actor Tito protests that it doesn't make sense and leaves the set. Nick's mom surprisingly takes Tito's place, holds an apple for Nicole, and thus the scene is filmed. Nick is so pleased he fantasizes of winning an award for the film.  

Sometimes, behind-the-scenes problems of making a movie are more interesting than the finished movie, and director Tom DiCillo uses his own personal experience from filmmaking in this fun independent comedy. "Living in Oblivion" is a one-note concept overstretched into a feature, but is still an honest ode to all artists everywhere struggling to achieve their vision, and their dream work of art, despite all the obstacles and opposition. It is comprised out of three segments. The first one is filmed in black-and-white cinematography, except in the actual scene of the film which is in color, and shows how a single take can be ruined in so many ways that it becomes absurdly creative: a boom mic falls into the frame; loud music from someone's car outside on the street is heard; or the hilarious moment where the actress Nicole (excellent Catherine Keener) is reciting her line, but all of a sudden fragments of glass fall into the scene, as the light exploded from too much heat.

The second segment is filmed in color, except for the scene from the fictional film which is in black-and-white, but this time depicting the tribulations caused by a "hot shot" movie star Chad, who is trying to direct a scene more than the director Nick himself. In one of the best ideas, Chad persuades the cameraman to place actress Nicole from the foreground into the background, with himself in the close up, under the pretext that she says "I've always admired you from afar". Even better is the scene where Nick sits next to Nicole and repeats the played scene almost word-for-word, admitting he admired her as an actress. Unfortunately, the movie suffers from the bad idea that the first two segments are revealed to be only a dream, implying that only the last 30 minutes are the actual filming of the movie, which should have been re-written to be included as one continuous, uninterrupted story from three different days. The last segment revolves around the dwarf actor Tito (Peter Dinklage in an early role) in all seriousness confronting Nick about the illogical nature of a dream sequence: "Why does my character have to be a dwarf?! ... Oh, make it weird, put a dwarf in it! Everyone will go: whoa whoa whoa, it must be a dream, there's a dwarf in it!" Other good gags are the smoke machine for said dream sequence which causes so much smoke in the room that it triggers the smoke detector, or the cameraman Wolf who is wearing an eyepatch, but a tear flows underneath it. Not every joke works, some are forced or underwhelming, and DiCillo doesn't have such a sense for comic timing, but overall, "Living in Oblivion" is a loving homage to underdogs trying to realize their dream. 

Grade:+++

The Real Blonde

The Real Blonde; comedy, USA, 1997; D: Tom DiCillo, S: Matthew Modine, Catherine Keener, Maxwell Caulfield, Daryl Hannah, Bridgette Wilson, Mario Thomas, Kathleen Turner, Elizabeth Berkley, Denis Leary, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd

New York. Joe wants to make it as an actor, but is only working as a waiter and still has no agent. Joe is questioning his relationship with his girlfriend Mary, deeming their sex underwhelming lately. His co-worker Bob accepts a job at a TV soap opera and wants to find a real blonde. Joe meets with agent Dee Dee and accepts to perform as an extra in a Madonna music video, but instead of the singer, only her stand-in is on the set, Tina. Due to an argument with an anti-Judaist assistant, Joe is fired. However, Dee Dee lets him audition for a role with Tina, and Joe gets a part in a movie. Tina kisses him, Joe at first embraces her, but then stops, leaves and returns back to Mary. Joe and Mary have passionate sex again and thus make up. 

Tom DiCillo's only big budget Hollywood film, "The Real Blonde" has a story that is difficult to pin down: ostensibly, it is about a blonde, but it uses that only as a symbol for a contemplation about integrity and happiness. The main character is struggling actor Joe (very good Matthew Modine), trying to make it in New York, which again touches upon DiCillo's themes of struggling artists and filmmaking from "Living in Oblivion"—Steve Buscemi even practically reprises his role as the director of the Madonna music video. The best bits are Joe's relationship scenes with Mary (outstandingly natural and genuine Catherine Kenner): as a couple, they are not idealized, they have troubles, they argue, but they have the ability to listen, improve and understand each other as truly grown up characters, which is fascinating. The movie starts with Joe and Mary in a crisis in bed, as they hear through the window of their apartment that some old lady's dog is kidnapped on the street; conversely, the movie ends with Joe and Mary making up and having wonderful sex in bed, as the old lady outside spots her lost dog returning back to her on the street. The dog is thus a symbol for balance, comfort in Joe's and Mary's relationship, which is lost, but then found again.

Their crisis is caused by Joe's refusal to star in TV soap operas, deeming them weak, as he only aims for artistic roles in quality films, but this way he is often short on money. As his agent tells him, he must be willing to accept even bad roles in soap operas, because that's all "just business". Joe's friend Bob is basically Joe's "what if?" shadow: Bob is also an actor, but accepts to star in a soap opera for money. Bob is thus a symbol for shallowness and giving up for easy comfort. He is looking for a "real blonde", but eventually ends up with a woman who admits she only dyed her hair and is a brunette. In a skillful twist of the viewers' assumptions, DiCillo implies that Joe is also technically a blond, a male blonde, but has integrity and standards. Ironically, Mary thus ends up with a real blond, while Bob ends with a fake blonde, because he is so superficial. The storyline defies a typical three-act structure and meanders a lot, but for some reason it flows so smoothly and naturally that it is simply engaging to watch it. The movie is often funny through little character quirks and lines, whereas these characters grow on you. One has sympathy for Joe who navigates through this world of weird videos and photo shoots about nothing, without a soul. In one crucial sequence, Joe meets Tina who has blond hair; later, they meet again at an audition, but Tina now has natural brown hair. Tina kisses him, but he decides to return to Mary. Is the message that small, imperfect happiness is still preferable to idealized, illusory happiness because it is at least—real? Either way, "The Real Blonde" is a comfy fun.

Grade:+++

Unseen Wonder

Čudo neviđeno; satire, Montenegro / Serbia, 1984; D: Živko Nikolić, S: Savina Geršak, Petar Božović, Boro Begović, Dragan Nikolić, Taško Načić, Vesna Pećanac, Boro Stjepanović, Danilo 'Bata' Stojković, Velimir 'Bata' Živojinović

A small village on the Skadar lake. A young American woman comes to visit, claiming her father once lived in this village. She finds a job as a waitress of a tavern, seduces its owner Baro and even persuades him to sign the ownership over to her name. Four lads from a neighboring village try to woo her, but she wants to know who is the strongest among them, so they end up fighting each other. Šćepan, a tycoon, persuades her to seduce every man and trick him into signing a document approving for his plan to build a tunnel which will drain the lake and leave a fertile valley for a plantation farm. The American woman seduces also Boro, who is unsuccessfully trying for years to have his wife Krstinja impregnated. Since the sea level is higher than the lake level, the lake floods the area. The American woman wants to marry fisherman Zeljo, but while they were on a boat, the clash with another group of men on a boat, shoot and fight, until all the men die and she is left the only one alive on the boats.

"Unseen Wonder" is considered one of the best Montenegrin movies by one of the best Montenegrin directors, Zivko Nikolic, a peculiar, but delicious satire in which the director tells one of the most ironic stories of Yugoslav cinema: the one how Western liberalism and modernism, embodied in, of course, a woman (excellent Savina Gersak) arrives to the backward conservative East and causes such a stir and commotion that it eventually reforms / destroys it. Nikolic makes fun of conservatism, patriarchism, religion, pseudo-scientific local "experts" and overall primitivism of the most backward Balkan areas with gusto, inserting a lot of humor with a lot of sense for local mentality. Several observations are subtle (all the women work in the lake, while all the men just lazily sit in the pub and drink), while some are so direct it is hard to miss them. The main protagonist, a nameless American woman of Montenegrin roots, finds this place and surprisingly turns it into her very own party, always keeping the upper hand, in a more logical feminist retelling of Pasolini's film "Teorema", using her erotic touch to control the men in her favor. 

Several jokes are very funny. For instance, the American woman swims naked in the Skadar lake, while two Orthodox priests observe her from the monastery: "What is this, father Makarije? A fallen angel punished by God or the devil in woman's body?" - "No, father Leontije, that's just what the blunt people would call, a good pussy!" Makarije is later seen "helping" the infertile woman Krstinja by telling her to lie on the bed in the monastery room, while he has sex with her to "help" her become pregnant. Just as her husband Šoro wanted to divorce her since the American woman claims to be pregnant with him, Krstinja announces she is pregnant as well. Later on, in a twist, Krstinja demands that the American woman hands her the baby after birth, revealing she just placed a pillow on her stomach under the skirt—but the American woman then also reveals her own pillow from under the skirt. In a sequence where a man secretly brings the American woman to his home at night, his father wakes up and protests, as they have this exchange: "You bring this freak here? If she enters this house, I am leaving!" - "Oh, father, you will leave even sooner than that." Serb comedian Danilo Stojkovic has an unusual role of the tycoon Šćepan who wants to drain the lake, but is still excellent in it. The ending is a bit vague and incomplete, failing to circle out everything clearly, but the overall conclusion is still amusing.

Grade:+++