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| MARSAL | |||
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Croatia 1999 / 35 mm / Color / 97 min. | |||
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Stipan, a young policeman in the coastal city of Split, is punished for dereliction of duty by being transferred to the island where he was born. The assignment he is given seems a bit preposterous: several old men on the island have been acting oddly and there are reports of their having seen a ghost. Obeying orders, Stipan opens an investigation. The men, led by Marinko Cicin, are all old Communists, veterans of the partisan army that helped liberate Yugoslavia in World War II, and their strange behaviour seems to have begun at the funeral of one of their war buddies. The town is full of gossip about a spectre at the graveyard. But Marinko and his group won't talk to Stipan, whom they consider a representative of the enemy government, and the townspeople are afraid of phantoms, vampires and werewolves. One day a middle-aged couple from Zagreb tell Stipan of having seen the ghost of Josip Broz Tito, the late dictator of Yugoslavia, in his marshal's uniform. Seizing on the opportunity to make a dinar, Luka, the town's mayor, decides to organize a campaign of socialist spiritual tourism on the island. The idea is to attract all the unreconstructed Communists and old partisans who are nostalgic for the old days under Tito. Stipan tries to kill the plan, but it's too late: the Worker's Day parade, the Birthday Baton run and similar events are already drawing tourists. And at the site where Tito's ghost was seen, Stipan finds two medals... A probing satirical comedy whose targets include both the old-style Communists and the new-style capitalists of Croatia... a most pleasant surprise. -- David Stratton (Variety) |
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| Script: Ivo Bresan, Vinko Bresan. Phot.: Zivko Zalar. Ed.: Sandra Botica Bresan. Mus.: Mate Matesic. Cast: Drazen K�hn, Linda Begonja, Ilija Ivezic, Boris Buzancic, Inge Appelt, Ivo Gregurevic, Predrag Vusevic, Boris Svrtan, Ksenija Pajic, Vlatko Dulic. Prod.: Ljubo Sikic, Ivan Maloca,Nova ves 45, 10000 Zagreb (Croatie), t�l.: (385-1) 4667 290, fax: (385-1) 4667 022, e-mail: [email protected]. Sales: Achab Film, Viale Gorizia 24 c, 00198 Rome (Italie), t�l.: (39-06) 854 72 30, fax: (39-06) 853 55 692, e-mail: [email protected]. | |||
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Vinko Bresan Born in Sibenik, Croatia in 1964, Vinko Bresan studied litearture and philosophy at the University of Zagreb and film at the Zagreb Drama Academy. His graduation film, Our Stock Market, was a prizewinner at the Oberhausen Festival in 1987. He has since directed Common Lunch (1994), Corridor (1995) and HOW THE WAR STARTED ON MY ISLAND (1997), his first feature, which was shown at the Montreal World Film Festival. He has also directed two stage plays, The Guardian From the Island and Wait a Minute, Zvonimir. |