How the War Started on My Island

1997
How the War Started on My Island
7.8| 1h37m| en| More Info
Released: 31 August 1997 Released
Producted By: Hrvatska Radiotelevizija
Country: Croatia
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

At the beginning of 1991, Yugoslav army did not acknowledge Croatian's independence, and still holding few military barracks in Croatia. Gajski travels to an island to get his son out of the army. Locals have besieged the barracks and organized a festival to try with singing and recitals to get major Aleksa and his soldiers to surrender, but Aleksa has explosives thru the barracks and wants to blow up the island.

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Hrvatska Radiotelevizija

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Reviews

petarmatic This film is trying to give a look on the Croatian war of independence from what was then Yugoslavia a look with humor. Although at that time there was no humor in it at all. For us who stayed alive to write these lines, I can vouch to you that it was pure hell which materialized on Earth in the period of 1991-1995.Plot is base on a true story on the island of Vis, which harbored substantial Yugoslav Navy base which became unwelcome on the island overnight as Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Time was September of 1991.I would like to tell you that I laughed with the film, but because I remember so well horrors of the war I could not laugh. I will leave that to you.
purger-2 During the Serbian aggression in Croatia, especially from 1992 until the end in 1995, Croatian national cinematography forgot about comedies at all. I remember it was 1996 and everyone were talking about the film. I was in 5th or 6th grade and all guys from the class decided to go to the cinema. It was something strange for national production, the entire cinema was crowded, all were laughing and all had a good time. Now, when I'm university student, I'm looking at the film more as a tragedy, than a comedy. Under the laughter, there is much tragedy, you have the Serbian commandant which is ready the blow up the Croatian town in which he has lived for years, just for the Yugoslav state which is dead, on the other hand, Croatian local commandant is ex-communist who is ready to do anything, but nothing smart, and only thing which is holding him from making a complete disaster is his deputy, who is smart, but not the boss. Nobody gets killed, only a poet. Intellectual gets killed, while saying a pessimistic poem of Croatian poet Antun Gustav Matos in which Croatia is being hanged in the begging of 20th century. Nothing really changes in Croatia. Everyone is trying to hang Croatia.
petshop A charming black comedy that illustrates the complexities of Yugoslavia's division on the simplistic small town level. National troops have ordered a bunker to be set up, calling on the many of the local sons (who are serving as soldiers) under the command of a local businessman. The neighborhood branch of the resistance, led by the local plumber, tries desperately to disarm the camp peacefully so the boys can all get home for dinner.An old man stumbles onto the scene in search of his son, because he simply has to go home (we never find out why). He naively wanders up to loaded guns and armed soldiers explaining "his wife will get really mad."He teams up with the resistance, and a brilliant scheme results to disarm the self-destructive bunker.The script is tight and full of political satire, and never borders on talky or grandiose. The array of colorful characters in the town are extreme, crazy, but utterly believable, human, and vital to the story.The intense caper is pulled off with such masterful suspense-filled direction that is reminiscent of Chinatown or the Dirty Dozen.
Borko Baric Good movie. Lots of good jokes, probably not so funny for someone outside Central Europe. All in all, one of the best products of Croatian cinema in recent years.