Circus Fantasticus, 2010

Circus Fantasticus, 2010
Director: Janez Burger
Cast: Leon Lučev, Ravil Sultanov, Daniel Rovai




Stage: Kino Dvor, local theatre


Circus Fantasticus in short: A man stays alone with his children in a half demolished house in the middle of a desolate field. His wife has just been killed by a grenade in a military battle. He is expecting a new attack. Instead a wandering caravan called Circus Fantasticus stops by the house. They bring along the dying director of the circus. Is it possible for anything beautiful to happen in a landscape of war and death? Can life go on? Is it possible to realize that death does not exist?


Preps: I need to see the first silent slovene movie after a looooong time. And I admire Burger's work all in all, one of the most talented slovene artists of all time (or directors). Besides, I don't know anything about this and it's supposed to rock slovene movie scene to its grounds.


Reality: The movie's first scene is breath taking, as you follow the devastation of a war in a family. You don't really need them to talk at all, but the deep feelings they are showing in their faces or with their body language, goes beyond belief. The war, taking place in.. well, in this case, it's not important. It is not placed in time and space, you don't know what it derives from and what they should be fighting for. The movie specifies the consequences you are faced within a war, followed up with some inserts of everyday fun, that comes handy in the time between. The movie is actually serving as a critic to all wars, that are happening or were happening. The lack of speech in the movie shows uneffectiveness of words and big speeches in the wartime. And our life is continously shaked by some dramatical actions. The arrival of the Circus Fantasticus drives changes in the main man (lead) role. The changes in life, conflicts that he has with himself, are distributed through the relationships he establishes with the new neighbours.

The circus as itself could be interpreted as a strong symbol of the people, that are observing the war, not understanding its point and path. The dance between two artists and the tank could be a subsymbol for the things just stated. There are a lot of metaphorical sub-understandings in this movie, left to the interpretation of the viewer, because they are not put into words. You need to read between the lines here, as it is with every book where the blanks must be filled by the reader. The piece leaves a powerful strike of sadness and a feeling that we are just silent bystanders, with no chance to influence bigger fluctuations in our lives (as a war definitely is). The mocking of the tank would be in this sense mocking of the living nation to the brave polititians that urge to get wars to see their decisions living the reality, but after striking a war, they are safely put in their offices, and people are left with tanks and afterwards, the distruction, that war brings.

A subtheme I sense in the movie is also a dramatical impact of the dead that want to say goodbye and younger people (or artists), that are more sensitive to the things "beyond" - so they can sense even dead people or interpret their movements, behaviour, etc. Bringing out the last performance for the main director of the circus as a farewell story (and him leaving afterwards), would probably mean, bowing to the life and having a decent walkaway (comparing to the indecent you are given when being a part of war and being blown away).

The moral maybe would be also in leading a life afterwards. Bringing memories to their right places and leaving with optimism. You can leave the past behind, but you will never forget it. Certainly.





My personal rating: 8,0 (it will make you think about your values and what is the purpose of speech.. what are the words meant for and what do they bring)


Circus Fantasticus on IMDB

Critic about Circus in Slovene newspapers..