Run, Vlado, run.

This is also shown in the documentary film Behind the smile, directed by Marko Đorđević, who won the audience award at the last 18th Beldocs. It is a half-hour production, composed of home videos of Vlade Divljan's family and animated parts, which were in charge of Milorad Savanović and Tamara Kostrešević. Ten years after the death of the "Idol" frontman, we received a warm and nostalgic reminder of the rich and fulfilling life of a man whose creativity marked the lives of many generations in this region. Director Marko Đorđević is known as the author of films My morning laugh i That's it for today, which was well received by both the audience and the critics.

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"WEATHER" Most of the film's material Behind the smile make a family video-footage that was mostly shot by Vlada with a small family camera. How did the idea for this film come about??

MARKO ĐORDJEVIC: Finishing editing his previous film That's it for today, I came up with the idea that the government's song "All the lies of the world" is playing under the last scene. I sat down and wrote an email to Dina Divljan (the widow of Vlada Divljan, first. aut) and since then our acquaintance begins. Dina had an idea for a film about the Government that would last plus or minus half an hour, and without any restrictions, or guidelines, she wanted to hear my view on it. Since I am a great admirer of Vlada's music and that he means a lot to me as a person, I was overjoyed that such an opportunity arose, and then, little by little, the outline of the future film appeared.

You won the audience award at the recently concluded Beldocs. It's as if people can never get enough of the Savage Government...

His wit and emotionality, which are found in that music, we always need, especially today. There are those Government tunes that are beautiful, really timeless, they are always with us all, I don't think they will ever leave us. For me, he is an inspiration and an unobtrusive hero. Watching the footage, editing the film, I got the impression that he is still there, somehow everything related to him is alive and everything is with a smile. His work is perfect for the films I want to make, he is the ideal film score composer. I remember that the actress Ivana Vuković and I were talking about how we need to deserve one of his songs to be in the film That's it for today. And only when that last scene was edited, in which Filip Đurić does not play Ivana, she could judge objectively. Only then did we decide to include "All the Lies of the World" in our film.

Many regret that the film is not longer. How much material did you have available and how did you choose what would go into the film?

The film is like the new-wave "Idol" songs: say what you have to say briefly, clearly, and be emotional along the way. That was the most important thing for us. Also, we tried to put a handful of ideas, musical transitions, sounds in that half hour, either in the animation we drew for the film, or in the editing...

The animation by Milorad Savanović and Tamara Kostrešević gives the film a special note. Where did the idea for that segment come from?, by the way, it's not that small?

In fact, in a way, it is just as important as this second, documentary part. Intuitively, I thought that animation would bring a fairy tale and open another door in the understanding of Vlade and his music. Paradoxically, the animation in the film sometimes manages to get closer to Vlad than the footage. Milorad designed that world and brought a lot to this film, thank him for that. I was the first viewer and was very excited by what he sent me every morning, before dawn, when he finished his work.

What did you learn about the Government through this archival material??

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I don't remember. It was as if I had always known about those shots, now after the relatively long editing of the film. I think the audience will find out what we all already sensed, that this is a very charming and witty man, prone to play, but that he was like that at home as well, not only in public. It's very funny how persistent he was to film everything and everywhere with his camera, even when he was annoying those he was filming, but then his charm would work and everyone would agree. So maybe I got it: even when he was boring, he was boring in a charming way.

One of the most memorable scenes in the film is when Vlada runs breathlessly in the sun with a camera in hand through some Croatian seaside town and climbs to a lookout point., from where he watches the sea. That scene has a special drama, carries tension within itself. Where was he filming?? How did you experience that scene??

Thanks for noticing, I really love that scene, it's definitely the most emotional one in the movie. When we looked through hours of footage from his camera, we came across a part from his summer vacation on the Croatian island of Susak. Vlada walks through the stone streets, in the middle of the day, in the heat, you can hear her breathing, talking to the locals - those scenes are not actually in the film, but they were the main inspiration for the animated scenes in the second half. Suddenly, the Government starts running, running and running. He is out of breath, looking at the water in the distance. It left such a strong impression on me, his running, that I knew we had the end of the film and that in the scene itself, as well as in his music, two seemingly opposing emotions are mixed: joy and a certain sadness. That running on film for some reason evokes special emotions in me. There is excitement there, there is something almost childish, I understand that now.

Film Heavenly theme (2019) director Mladen Matičević's film about Vlada Divljan was also very well received at one time.

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I'm happy that this movie exists, I saw it at the premiere. I'm glad there are more different movies about Vlad, he certainly deserved them. Also, the existence of that film made what I was doing easier. I could experiment, freed from the obligation to explain, conduct interviews, add biographical information, etc. Simply, this is a different, smaller film, which suits me, that is, some of my directorial sensibilities, better. From Mladen's film, I vividly remember the wedding of Dina and Vlada, and how spontaneous it all seemed. As well as Rundek's description of Vlad's talent, and above all his cover of my favorite song "I have only one love".

How involved are you in the protests and civil uprising that has been going on for the last six months? Sometimes it feels like we've reached some kind of impasse and the initial energy may have died down a bit. How do you feel??

So many emotional scenes happened at those protests that nothing can be the same anymore. The students felt the moment and did something completely unusual. The scenes we witnessed are sublime - emotionally liberated people are now among us and will change this society for the better.

Your feature films My morning laugh (2019) i That's it for today (2024) they are very well received by the public. What new things are you preparing??

I started writing a new film with Stefan Tićmi, a writer and friend. A potential title also appeared these days, so I'm secretly and to myself, but honestly - excited. I try to let my intuition guide me. It's actually easy, it just takes a lot of time sometimes. My goal this time is not to suffocate people with the script before the shooting takes place, to somehow keep more freshness, that is, not to be afraid of failure at all.