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Saso Kekenovski,
Saso Kekenovski,
Maja Stankovska,
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:
Ivo Trajkov,
Ivo Trajkov
see all cast/crew...
: Picture This
: Drama, Foreign, Eastern Europe
: 90 min.
: English, Macedonian
: English, French
see additional details...
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A man near the end of his life relives a crucial period from his youth in this powerful drama. Lem Nikodinoski (Meto Jovanovski) is a prominent Macedonian politician who has suffered a severe heart attack. As Lem drifts between life and death, his mind wanders to his childhood, and he observes his younger self (played by Saso Kekenovski) during his days in a camp for children whose parents were unwilling to embrace Russia's Stalinist regime following World War II. Ariton (Mitko Apostolovski), the camp's headmaster, is a strong taskmaster, but he displays a genuine compassion for his charges; Olivera (Verica Nedeska), his second in command, takes a more stern approach, and is willing to dole out physical punishment to any child who does not absorb her Stalinist teachings. One day, a new boy enters the camp, Isak (Maja Stankovska), who displays a calm but resilient nature that's different from the fearful attitudes of the other children. After initial resistance, Lem becomes close friends with Isak, and their friendship helps Lem confront the horrors of camp life in a new way. Writer and director Ivo Trajkov cast teenage actress Maja Stankovska to play Isak after a long series of unsuccessful auditions failed to find a young man who had the right look for the role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Stalin's Yugoslav Orphans
by talltale
November 26, 2005 - 1:59 PM PST
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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Visually lovely, even if its setting and subject are ugly as hell, THE GREAT WATER is a movie that doesn't work as often as it does. Telling the story of childhood trauma from the point of view of an old politician as he is taken to the emergency room, the movie makes this elderly character a "memory" participant in his younger life. While this is not confusing, neither is it very useful, since it helps turn a terrible tale (abuse, torture, betrayal) into a sweeter one via nostalgia, otherworldliness and a rosier-than-real, sepia look. You could call all this "artful"; I call it unnecessary.
The film's most interesting feature is its investigation of the immediately post-WWII rise of Stalinism in the former Yugoslavia, especially the forcing of its citizenry to give up religion in favor of the State. To be forced to choose between an un-provable, backward faith and Communism as practiced by Stalin is to find oneself in perhaps the ultimate rock-and-hard-place position. Watching and hearing the idiocy of the elders/guardians is appalling, but the movie's slow pace and heavy symbolism only weigh things down without adding to the proceedings. "Damn me," as the old protagonist might say, but I found this one too "arty" for its own (and our) good. You might want to bump it up a notch--or several--if you're resolutely religious. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.33)
3 Votes
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