– Pjer Žalica’s latest film is a decent but anachronistic account of how the war in Bosnia 30 years ago still dictates life and relationships between people.
Admir Glamočak, Boris Isaković, Emir Hadžihafizbegović and Aleksandar Seksan in Labor Day in May
At the beginning of the 2000’s, Pjer Zalica was probably the most fashionable and profitable filmmaker in Bosnia and Herzegovina thanks to his first two feature films, Fuse (+see also:
trailer
film profile) (2003) and Days and times (2004). After this promising start, his career began to show signs of ups and downs, with a few documentary passion projects, productions that failed, an adaptation of a play into a screenplay for Elmir Jukić’s film. Frog (+see also:
film criticism
trailer
film profile) and a filmed play, Focus, grandma! (+see also:
trailer
film profile)who opened the 2020 (pandemic) edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival. The festival still holds Žalica in high regard, premiering her new effort, May Work DaYes (+see also:
trailer
film profile)in the closing film slot, which means that it was played simultaneously in several open-air theaters in Sarajevo.
The title comes from the International Workers’ Day holiday, the celebration of which was introduced in Yugoslavia during the communist era. The tradition of celebrating the holiday in large groups with large quantities of food continued in all former federal republics, now independent states. And the ensemble of middle-aged and elderly friends at the center of Žalica’s film are no exception to this rule.
However, Numo’s plans (Admire Glamočak), Mujke (Alexander Seksan), Zuna (Emir Hadžihafizbegović), Cijo (Ermine Bravo), their former neighbor Savo (Boris Isakovic), now visiting from Canada, and to a lesser extent, their wives are interrupted when their neighbor, friend and war comrade Fudo is arrested by special forces for war crimes. The situation becomes even more complicated when Fudo’s unassuming son, Armin (Muhamed Hadžović) comes for an unannounced visit, also accompanied by his pregnant wife, Diba (Labina Mitevska), insisting that he must conduct his own investigation in order to clear his father’s reputation before it is too late. As the alcohol flows freely and the conversations become more and more heated, old wounds and resentment from the war of the early 1990s resurface, threatening to ruin not only the celebration, but also their friendship and their community spirit.
Žalica’s screenplay falls into the trap of inflating the characters and the relationships between them, making it more suited to a play than a cinema, and its direction isn’t too innovative either. The filmmaker makes good use of careful cinematography in Almir Djikoli and the acting abilities of its cast of Bosnian and ex-Yugoslav stars, giving them enough space for a bit of theater and bravado without ruining the sense of continuity or realism in their performances, but it also uses tricks clichés such as directing the spectators. emotions through Dino Sukalothe score. But probably the biggest problem is the fact that Žalica is his own editor, so any opportunity to shorten the timelines to make the film a little simpler and more propulsive was sacrificed in order for the filmmaker to maintain full control.
If Žalica’s only intention was to point out that this war from 30 years ago continues to dictate the lives of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one could call Labor Day in May a success. The problem is that Žalica does not bring anything particularly new, because this is common knowledge both at home and abroad. If it had been released around fifteen years earlier, the film would have been a good complement to the filmmaker’s early work, but today it seems quite anachronistic, both in its subject and in its direction.
Labor Day in May is a co-production between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro, directed by Arts Forum, Propeller film, Sisters and brother Mitevski, Behind the scenes productions, Bas Celik And Aba Movie.
