Movies, yet again

For a while, I have wanted to start watching more local films, but I have felt intimidated. English subtitling is rare and I haven’t been feeling very confident with my Serbian recently.

But faced with an evening of not particularly interesting small talk with an acquaintance who speaks no English, (my language has reached a point where I can small talk very well, but an interesting conversation with nuances is beyond me. I can say, ‘I like this book,’ but explaining why in an intelligent way is not yet in my skill set.) we opted for the movies.

‘Klopka,’ which had previously been recommended to me by a coworker, was playing at a theater near me. So we went. (If there is justice in the world, it will soon by playing at a theater near you too.) And I was pleasantly surprised by my ability to follow the story. I didn’t catch every word of dialogue, but I didn’t miss any significant plot points—at least as far as I know.

And I was pleasantly surprised by the film as well. It’s the story of a family with a son who has a heart problem and requires an expensive operation in German and his parents’ desperate efforts to raise the necessary 26,000 euros. I have heard multiple times that it 'captures modern Serbian life' better than any recent film.

The direction was good, the story compelling, and the film was well acted, but the most satisfying part of the story for me was seeing my current reality reflected back at me on the screen. The story occurs in Belgrade, so I could recognize places—but it was more enjoyable to see the smaller details. The family’s apartment has the same kind of light fixtures as mine. They use the brand of milk that I use. The clothes that people wear are what I see on the street every day.

I’ve been sitting here for five minutes trying to come up with a thoughtful, graceful concluding sentence, but everything I seem able to produce is hackneyed (‘so now I see why the Hollywood studio system is not for the best and diversity in the media is important,’ ‘movies don’t just expand our horizons, they play an important role in making oneself feel legitimate,’ etc. etc.), so I’ll allow you to create your own elegant way to conclude this thought.

It’s like a mad-lib.