Pastoral drama junkie in search of the next high.

October 26, 2010 9:39 AM

Asking about one particular Yugoslav film, and also recommendations.

Some years ago I caught a movie on TV called Virdzina. I loved it and have been looking for it ever since. I tried ebay, amazon, etc. to no avail.

Do you happen to know where I can buy this movie from?
Also, do you have any recommendations for bergman-ish, quiet, country-side movies with tense social/philosophic drama? I'm thinking about the Virgin Spring, or the movie mentioned above.

posted by Tarumba to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

I don't think it's ever been released on DVD or even video. There are PAL bootlegs of it, and plenty of places from which to illegally download it, though. I've heard that this movie (more archly "Serbian" than "Yugoslavian") was - soon after its release - seen as a sort of betrayal of Serbia, especially in light of some of the superstitious nationalist and patriarchal bullshit that dominated Serbian politics and culture shortly after the film's release; apparently the film was quite prescient in its allegorical narrative. I've never seen it myself.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 10:15 AM on October 26, 2010

Wow. Thanks for your comment. Now I feel even more like I HAVE to own it. I'd hate to buy a bootleg, but we are going to Serbia next year, so I may just do that. Hopefully they have one with subtitles.

If possible, Dee Xtrovert, I recommend that you watch it. It's incredibly good.
posted by Tarumba at 10:35 AM on October 26, 2010

If you don't mind hopping to another continent, I recommend the movie of Argentine director Lucrecia Martel. I discovered her recently and I am totally hypnotized by her fantastic movies. Apart from your criteria, her feature debut la Cienaga ticks all the other art house movie boxes: women wearing sunglasses inside the house, lots of booze, silent looks galore. But also: one hell of a movie, truly masterful film making.
Her second feature The Holy Girl is also set in the country side, at a convention that takes place in a run down hotel. The atmosphere is as feverish as it is claustrophobic and the story revolves around a girl who struggles with faith and sexuality.
The Headless Woman is her last movie and, in a sense, more conventional. Something happens in the beginning and you spend the rest of the movie what happened or if something happened at all.
Both the script and the acting seem improvised at first, but if you watch them again and again, you'll find out that everything fits. I really can't wait to see her next films in an actual Art House.

Also check out the website mubi europe. Great place to discover new and classic art house cinema. I hope the streaming works if you live in the US.
posted by ouke at 2:19 PM on October 26, 2010