Ostavljeni (The Abandoned), 2010

Ostavljeni (The Abandoned), 2010ž
Director: Adis Bakrač
Cast: Tony Grga, Mirsad Tuka, Mira Furlan,..

Stage: Life, movie festival (Kosovelova dvorana, Cankarjev dom)
The Abandoned in short: A drama about a boy that seeks love in the hostile world. How many chances does a child, that is born under tragic circumstances, have? Living in the shadows of the past without the parent love? 13 year old Alen is growing up in the orphanage in Sarajevo, hoping to find his mother one day. As they claim in the institution, his mother was supposed to work in the decade of Yugoslavia fall as a french war media journalist. Alen is working his allowance with small thefts for a local shop manager Sento. As the new manager of the orphanage reveals Sento, Alen wants a pay for his service - he demands his file from him, where the address of his mother is. However, the truth revealed is far different from that one that he expected.

Preps: Seeing this in the "sold out" section of movie festival, it occurs to me that it might be one of the better movies at the festival. Still, the topic about the orphans from the war is intruguing to me and very interesting.



Reality: The movie strikes deeply in the wounds that the war has left. The specific story about identity search after the devastation is truly impressive and so sad it makes me shiver. The children are put in the institution - the movie doesn't reveal whether all of them are war orphans or not but the mere fact of being abandoned by the parents or being left behind is breath taking.
Alen's strong character brings him from one situation from another, finding the way to the heart of the viewer, even though his actions opose to the law. Mira Furlan plays children's "nurse" or better put, children's stepmother in the real sense - being strict and representing a fine thick barrier between herself and them. On the other hand, having a relationship with the donor of the institution makes another point in hating her for being the way she is - uses the situation, on the other hand obsessing about discipline makes children hate her too.
Orphanage in a way resembles prison. The children often become rebels to the system, in some cases presenting this part of their souls in theft (shown vividly in the movie), or on the other hand, as other sorts of crime activity. But in this perticular piece, you are on the side of the children and feel they have been molested or neglected, thus they need to express this in a way. And a deep sorry, you feel for them and what has happened to them. Because deep inside, they show optimism, hope for better life, and a chance they would have to embrace the world, even though it's worth spitting on it from their perspective.


My personal rating: 9,0 (touching, revealing, up to the point. Superb interpretation of children and what the war might swing into later on)


Movie PR about its success in Karlovy Vari