MI NISMO ANDJELI (WE'RE NO ANGELS) (1992) A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 2000
The old saying about forbidden fruit being the sweetest can be best illustrated with the way Croatian public greeted Serbian films in the darkest hours of recent Balkan wars. During those times Tudjman's regime tried to severe any cultural link between Croatia and former federal partner and state propaganda machinery mercilessly tried to turn Serbia into this Earth's equivalent of Mordor and their inhabitants into Orcs. State- sanctioned chauvinism reflected not only in the official ban of all Serbian cultural imports, but also with brutal censorship of media materials in Croatia proper. For example, even 100% Croatian films made in Communist past were forbidden from being shown on TV for the simple reason of having distinguished Serbian actor in one of major roles. Naturally, overzealous implementation of such policy created almost instinctive reaction of certain segments in Croatian movie going public; this reaction manifested in Serbian films becoming popular ingredient of any wilder party, and gradually many enterprising individuals began crossing battle-lines and supplying this newly formed market. The circle of people who enjoyed and appreciated Serbian films steadily grew, and when the cultural barriers between two countries collapsed few years ago, nobody was particularly surprised to see Serbian films in Croatia being almost as popular as films made in Hollywood.
Among the first batch of Serbian films that turned into cult material was MI NISMO ANDJELI, comedy directed in 1992 by Srdjan Dragojevic. The plot of the film is rather simple and it features Angel (played by Uros Djuric) and Devil (played by Srdjan Todorovic). Two of them are fighting for the soul of Nikola (played by Nikola Kojo), Belgrade playboy who is enjoying reputation of city's top heartthrob despite the fact that he treats women like garbage. One of his latest victims is Marina (played by Milena Pavlovic), mousy 18-year old high school who slept with Nikola after accidentally getting drunk during the party. Few months later Nikola doesn't remember the incident or the girl, but this Marina is carrying his child. Thankfully, Marina's best friend Bubi (played by Branka Katic) tells her not to reconcile with this and two of them begin working very hard in order to hook Nikola with Marina again. Before this happens, Nikola is going to experience some rather strange events, thanks to the manipulations of Angel and Devil.
If you want to see effects of war on filmmaker, you should compare MI NISMO ANDJELI with other works of Srdjan Dragojevic who would later become cinematic celebrity thanks to his gritty war dramas PRETTY VILLAGES, PRETTY FLAMES and WOUNDS. When the first segments of the film were being shot, the old Yugoslavia was still in one piece, and the protagonists are having vacation in Croatian parts of Adriatic Coast (references to one particular island were later creating salvos of laughter among local Croatian public). The war actually manifested itself only in one, not particularly inspired scene with Bubi's father in military fatigues, a scene that would create more winces than laughs. Apart from that, MI NISMO ANDJELI is completely set in its own fantasy world that consists of teenagers and playboys from well-to-do Belgrade families, who listen to rockabilly music and live life closer to standards of 1950s America than brutal 1990s Balkans. Dragojevic, however, sometimes gives few glimpses of real Serbia, but those glimpses are more in parodical nature (especially when they deal with Serbian folk music subculture that went hand-in-hand with extreme Serb nationalism) and not very different from scenes in which Dragojevic gives homage to his cult classics like TWIN PEAKS and ALIEN. Lack of perspective and solid plot is, however, more than compensated with Dragojevic's incredible sense of humour. Not burdened with war and atrocities, humour in MI NISMO ANDJELI provides light but effective entertainment.
Apart from humour, main strength of MI NISMO ANDJELI is in characters, which are played by diverse but very talented cast. The most recognisable face to foreign audiences is Nikola Kojo, who had worked with Dragojevic in his two later films. But the best impression is left by Branka Katic, actress who turned otherwise supporting role into the most sympathetic and memorable character. Those who are fans of ex-YU cinema from past decades would probably enjoy seeing faces of Eva Ras, Bogdan Diklic and Predrag `Miki' Manojlovic in bit parts. Perhaps the only weakness of the film is in its local nature - in order to truly appreciate the humour and references of the film, viewer must at least be familiar with former Yugoslavia. However, those who give MI NISMO ANDJELI a try, are probably going to be rewarded with film which deservedly broke through even the hardest cultural and political barriers.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
Written on December 27th 2000
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax Fido: 2:381/100 E-mail: dragan.antulov@st.tel.hr E-mail: drax@purger.com E-mail: dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr
Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in Croatian http://film.purger.com
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