Ðuka Begović film

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Production year: 1991

Duration: oko 102 minute

Technique: color

Genre:

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Director:
Schmidt, Branko

Production house:
Zagreb Film
Hrvatska radiotelevizija

Camera:
Trbuljak Goran

Synopsis:
After spending 13 years in prison, forty-year-old Ðuka Begović returns to his home-village in Slavonia. He promises to his mother that he will begin a new and honest life. He finds new meaning in taking care of his daughter Smilja. He tries to chase away destructive thoughts that threaten to overwhelm him by throwing himself into hard work. However, everything around him reminds him of his past and his family’s tragic destiny. His family was wealthy at the beginning of the twentieth century, but was destroyed by the capitalist powers that took over the villages and broke the traditional family cooperatives. Ðuka’s personal life was marked by constant conflicts with his father…

Cast:
Slobodan Ćustić (Ðuka Begović), Fabijan Šovagović (Šima), Asja Potočnjak (Ljubica), Zaim Muzaferija (Ilarija Begović), Mustafa Nadarević (Mata), Urška Hlebec (Jagoda), Filip Šovagović (Ilja), Perica Martinović (Ruža), Zoran Pokupac (Roth), Nataša Ralijan (Smilja), Željko Vukmirica (Andra), Helena Buljan (Mara), Krunoslav Senčić (Ðuka as a boy), Nikolina Vican (Jagoda as a girl), Nada Gačešić-Livaković (Gypsy Jela), etc.

Country of production:
Republic of Croatia

Screenplay:
Fabijan Šovagović, Branko Schmidt (based on the short story by Ivan Kozarac)

Music by:
Zoran Mulić

Edited by:
Vesna Lažeta

Set designer:
Želimir Zagotta

Costume designer:
Vjera Ivanković

Commentary:
This is an ambitious attempt at filming a family saga in the context of a typical Slavonian village at the end of the 19th century. However, the authors of the film had trouble dealing with the complicated dramaturgical demands (most of the characters and relationships are not wholly developed). An additional burden on the realization of this film was the pathetic mystical characterization of the main character, Ðuka, as a stereotypical auto-destructive man who drowns his emotional pain in alcohol and aggression. In accordance with the spirit of the time when this film was made, Ðuka finally becomes a born-again Christian. The greatest virtue of this film is the exceptional color photography by Goran Trbuljak.

Awards: Pula 1992 - Golden Arena for make up to Snježana Tomljanović and Halid Redžebašić

Screening permit: from July 1991