Joking against misery

Serbia sounds urban!? Is it possible to make a film about Belgrade after the bombing without ruins and humpa/cumpa rhythm?

Raša Andrić is one of the most valuable phenomena on the domestic film scene precisely because of the aesthetic issues new Serbian art transferred from the sphere of the camp to the whiteness of the movie screen. According to the system "who loves, let him", he first introduced himself to us with an urban (wartime) inflationary comedy Sorting webbed za dve rascals i fish, an unpretentious but probably one of the most original films of the decade that was "eaten by grasshoppers". He responded lucidly to the bombardment challenge Je the they bomb Code vessel?, which is probably the most accurate anthropological record of Belgrade under the bombs, devoid of pathos and the famous game of patriots and others.

While still irreplaceable as assistant director no. 1 (both films by Ljubiša Samardžić), Andrić still continues his own low fi strategy, reminiscent of the beginnings of Zoran Tadić. Small films in small production with maximum authorial control. Not flirting with current trends, but still fitting into them, Andrić makes the first "dram and base" Serbian film following two Belgrade "lightning stars" in their seemingly unimportant lives. Joking as a concept in contrast to war and misery will seem to some as a fierce and provocative distance, but with Raša it is simply accurate and precisely observed. Neither the media nor the light of day belong to his heroes, their alternative life takes place in an alternative reality.

Since Slobodan Šijan, our screens have not seen the work with actors demonstrated by Andrić, leaving them a huge space for improvisation. The film's additional attractiveness is given by the music of the most current Belgrade bands, whose coherence reminds one of the beginning of Idol or Electric Orgasm, which have already become part of the nostalgic reminiscences of the middle-aged.

This film first of all demonstrates the formula of salvation for cinematography without a budget, where the courage of the producer, a crew that does not have a fleet like the federal government and people who know their job and are ready to live for the film and not just for the film are enough. With authors such as Milutin Petrović, Dejan Zečević or Srđan Golubović, we can already legitimately claim that we have a "new" film wave.

Lightning are a small-large film for quick and sharp consumption, a pudding that can be eaten either as a main dish or as a dessert. It is additionally exciting that Sergej Trifunović proved that there are no acting drawers for him, and Zoran Cvijanović that he is not only an actor for all tasks, but also a producer with a vision and faith that in the changing times, a film with a lot of charm can always be made. and for a small sum. And without high politics. This film is also a great escape from the endless talk-show on our small screens.