teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU (Thomas E. Billings) (12/28/89)
MANIFESTO
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1989 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis:
Set in an undisclosed country in Central Europe in 1920, the film follows the
adventures of a beautiful, but oversexed, young woman. Together with her
bumbling friends, she is involved in a plot to kill the King. A sophisticated
and very sly comedy, which pokes fun at socialism and revolutionaries. Very
good, but I suspect that much of the humor will be missed by most viewers.
Yugoslavia (in English, not dubbed!), color, 1988, 94 minutes.
Director/Writer: Dusan Makavejev
This is the latest work by Dusan Makavejev, who is best known in the U.S.
for a previous film, THE COCA-COLA KID. The current film is a lighthearted
farce, a kind of parody of socialism and revolutionaries. The plot is rather
thin at times, but it is funny enough that boredom is unlikely.
The story follows Svetlana, a very beautiful young woman who returns, in
1920, to the small town in Central Europe she was born and raised in. Based on
her behavior, one gets the impression that she is afflicted with nymphomania,
for she proceeds immediately to rekindle old passions and start new ones.
Svetlana's motivations for returning home are soon made clear. The King
is soon to visit her hometown, and Svetlana is involved in a group of clumsy,
inept and incompetent revolutionaries who are plotting to murder the King!
What makes things more interesting is that "the King" who visits is actually a
fake; the real King is already in the town, working with the police (also
clumsy and incompetent) to try to uncover the revolutionaries. Even more
interesting, the real King is oversexed and has a foot fetish!
The result of this ridiculous situation is a real comedy of errors, which
are made in great abundance by all the characters here. Much of the humor is a
pointed satire of socialism, as the police are ridiculed often. The police
literally hide in practically every closet in this film! Another example, more
subtle, is the scene where a political prisoner is put in an insane asylum by
the police. There he is locked in a large circular wheel. The prisoner loves
to run in place in the wheel, expending great effort, and shouting pro-
socialist slogans all the time. The irony of this scene is very nice; the man
in the wheel works very hard, yet produces nothing but political rhetoric. Can
you think of a better parody of socialism?
Although I enjoyed the film very much, particularly its nice satire of
socialism and revolutionaries, much of the humor is rather subtle. Thus I
wonder how much of the humor will be effectively lost on a general audience.
As to technical aspects, the photography (much of which was shot on location)
is beautiful, and the acting is really very good.
Thus I make a conditional recommendation for the movie, i.e., worth
seeing if you appreciate subtle satire, much of it political. Also, in case
anyone is curious as to why a Yugoslavian film would be made in English, the
film is a Cannon/Golan-Globus Production, made specifically for the
international market.
Distribution. Now in its initial U.S. run, showing at a limited number of
theaters (probably the art houses).
Reviewer: Thomas E. Billings, Department of Statistics
University of California, Berkeley