Reviews
Ivkova slava (2005)
is it a movie at all?
Another work of Zdravko Sotra who continued to make films for big screen as if they are TV films. Even worse than Zona Zamfirova which at least had a story, this one should get us closer to Serbian tradition, but failed to do what they advertise. Make as an adaptation of Stevan Sremac's novel, it shows that Sotra is awful script writer. There is no story at all. There are some entertaining gags during three days of feast (thanks to excellent actors) but that can not save the movie since there is no storyline! And, again, as with Zona Zamfirova, the camera positioning is like in TV film. Why then bother to go to cinema? My advice: don't waste time with this one!
Zona Zamfirova (2002)
profane work of art
I expected a lot from this movie, since it was a first work of Serbian movie industry that tried what English are doing for years: turning novels of 18th and 19th century into films. But I think that director Zdravko Sotra failed. It was his first "real" movie, since he only directed TV films before and the camera positioning and set is as seen in TV film. He cannot take the advantages of wide screen! He tried to give an atmosphere of 19th century Serbia but I believe he managed it only partially. Although he had quite a high budget, it gave an appearance of a TV series! He had a set of excellent Serbian actors but the script made them look silly! It was hard to sit in cinema for 2 hours and watch this movie. At home, you can watch it while you make lunch or read some magazine. Otherwise: not recommended!