Customer Reviews

Cabaret Balkan - ("Bure Baruta") [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The film essentially explores human relationships in a time of economic uncertainty. Two best friends discover that they've been screwing each other over for their entire friendship. A man hunts down a punk who wrecked his car in an accident. A gangster tortures a radnom couple. An alienated young man terrorizes people on a bus. A refugee ex-professor forced to drive a bus to make a living. An emigre returns to reclaim his wife. Their lives are interwoven in this movie which chronicles one night in the Milosevic-era, pre-99 War of Agression Belgrade.

The acting is excellent. The effect that is desired is reached. When it's meant ot be funny - it's funny. When it's meant to be disgusting - it's disgusting. Watch this movie if pure anguish is what you want out of a film.

In the great 'cabaret' of events in former Yugoslavia, this film (also known as 'Powder Keg', which is an equally apt title) chronicles many loosely intertwined situations in the former Yu in one evening. Mostly as viewers we see the absurdity of so many policies toward former Yu by 'western' nations as a backdrop to issues, such as the every day lives of people who must put up with inefficiencies of their system (buses, for example), lawlessness, indifference, the issues facing people who have left and come back, seeing the difficulties they have endured). The movie makes no judgments about whether former Yugoslavia was better than what is left. Rather the stories told show that things have been difficult for a long time.

This film depicts the horror the people in Belgrade are living through as a result of the sensless war in the Balkans. As a result there are no winners, but everyone is a looser. Sad, but true. Watching this film, one almost feels as though they have traveled back in time, during WWII. Hatred and greed has permeated their souls and those with little values and morals left are considered crazy. Where are the Yugoslav's of yester-year? Who are these demons living there today? Watching this film, one almost feels transported to Belgrade.

The simplified mechanics vs. The baroque of the representation of Social Dissolution

This movie could well be the allegory of how it all evolved, once it got started--i.e. the madness of the Yugoslav wars in the 1990's. People are captives to circles of viciousness of different radii. The sustaining logic is that of action and reaction or injury and revenge. Revenge that rarely seems to come in straight line with injury, revenge that overwhelms the characters as if it were of divine origin and (not) of their own making. And like Yugoslavia herself, each one of the characters in the film could explain their actions and say that in a rotten universe they were the "honest whore." From a different perspective though, all the bad might have happened because people were in positions where they could do evil things. And, such evil, which in the Yugoslav case reached its most yet one can find it throughout all former communist countries, will make raw material for decades of future human reflection...

As far as the film itself is concerned, you have a set of characters whose destinies bring them together in order to brutally take them apart, all in a night in Belgrade. The range of emotions is very wide and reaches surprising depths. For example, the scene where some guy, returned with money from a Western country, meets his former love, and, to redeem himself, has the philharmonic play for her on the Danube is simply magnificent. Acting is superlative, music is good, and the whole story is told from the heart and with testosterone!

Is this how Hieronymus Bosch would have depicted these events had he been alive today?

Cabaret Balkan--aka The Powder Keg--is exactly both a dark and garish show with black, black humor and a society about to blow.

The film takes place one night in Belgrade, still the rump Yugoslavia (the film was made before the bombing in 1999.) A group of random characters all interact violently.

The relationships cover the full range of emotions: a couple is reunited after he left during the war, a couple is terrorized by a Che Guevara-esque guy and his teen goon, a man goes mental after his old VW is dented by a punk, and in the most impressive sequence, and by far the most disturbing, two old friends spar in a gym and begin to reveal past wrongs against each other. When hanky-panky with the wife is mentioned, the rage is palpable.

Not a few people are murdered, many are terrorized, and a general sense of desperation hangs over the city. The film is a cry that Yugoslavia needs help, it is preying on itself. The film is menacing. Many of the scenes highlight the degradation of someone by angry, vengeful, sick, and frustrated people.

This is probably no more a bizarre collage of tales than a Saturday night in Manhattan, but the context--late in the Milosevic regime, before he really brought the house down--is (now from hindsight) all the more biting. You can't imagine a sequel where, on top of the general ugliness, the city gets bombed (though the last sequence kind of predicts it.) You watch and say, how can it get that bad? Then you realize: it got worse.

This needs to get out on DVD. While Milosevic is gone, this film is still brutal.

THis is an excellent movie depicting the fear and grief the people in the former Yugoslavia are feeling. Although it can be graphic and (male) chauvenistic - it is a must see for those who like more than the average fluff movie.

Finding myself on a bit of a VHS watching spree, I settled down with my trusty Toshiba and allowed the tracking to take its course. The first film, a VHS rarity from 1998 (surprisingly no DVD option yet), gave the opportunity to tour the back roads of Belgrade without leaving the comfort of the couch. It was dark, it was disruptive, it was random; it was "Cabaret Balkan". Told in a storyline similar to that of recent films like "Babel" or "Amores Perros", "Cabaret Balkan" takes a socially dynamic state, gives the viewers a smorgasbord of one-dimensional characters, and allows the traveling to begin. As a tourist destination, one may consider booking another location, but as a cinematic endeavor, it packs light punches, interesting stories, and that seedy darkness that seems to follow Serbia wherever it goes. From one sad story to the next, we are forced to enter the lives of virtual unknown, to ask ourselves what would be our response in a similar situation, and to accept - willing or unwilling - that this film speaks the truth. That chaos is normal in Belgrade. To believe that a normal passenger, on a normal night, can easily become twisted in the evil that stirs in this cold city. "Cabaret Balkan" asks quite a bit from its viewers, in essence to extend belief and trust that these "endings" speak for an entire world, but if you allow your mind to watch, your belief to be suspended, "Balkan" proves to be spooky, entertaining, and vividly depressing all at once.

For those unwilling to experiment back with the VHS option, this is a film saturated in colorful characters. From fighting best friends, to a corrupt cop finding his comeuppance, to a bickering couple found in the worst situation possible, all the way to a man determined to win the heart of his sweetheart, "Cabaret Balkan" will take you on one wild ride. Despite our characters moving here and there, "Balkan" is one of those films that initially makes you think, "That was a depressing film", but after thinking further one can still say this was a depressing film, but it worked. It makes you think about the lifestyles of the less-fortunate in these areas, it makes you consider the place and the people - transforming what happens in Belgrade and putting into modern life, no matter where you live. That is why "Balkan" resonates. It takes over-hyper events and somehow settles them into reality. This is not an easy task as each "story" shows a different side of this city, or of the human relation, but as the stories continue to blend, adding layer upon layer - "Balkan" becomes a stronger and stronger film.

Alas, this isn't a film for everyone. Critics would argue that the inconsistent blend between the stories diminished the opportunity for authentic drama. Critics would argue that the disassociation between American audiences and what is political in Serbia would pull from the central focus. Critics would argue that not enough development of our characters hurt the overall effect of Dejan Dukovski's written word. In a small sense, they are right. "Cabaret Balkan" isn't without its faults, and casual film watchers would probably agree as initially this film just feels lackluster, but it is what remains in your mind long after the final credits rolled that makes this film applaud. It is a film that obviously tackled some difficult issues, in a place where difficult situations occur as the norm. The turning point for this film viewer was the story of the man trying to win his woman's heart. With orchestra and dog in hand, we follow him throughout his possible release until the climactic moment, but the eventual outcome of his sincere efforts is what shows the true horror that "Balkan" is trying to bring to light. My argument would be that perhaps it needed to end with this singular story, instead of the choice ending with the sadist and couple. To me, that story felt the least developed and utterly awkward. Realizing that it isn't Disney, it still felt choppy and misappropriated. As one small flaw for this film, in my eyes, would be this choppiness of getting from point A to point B. Perhaps it was the budget or just the lack of experience, but "Balkan" isn't subtle. The flow of scene to scene isn't there, and it demonstrates the struggles of our people (I get that), but a stronger frame to this film would have only heighted the experience.

This was a decent endeavor into a world I knew very little about. It is a film that resonates long after it is over. It continues to surprise that this little independent feature still hasn't seen a DVD light of day yet. A broader audience would appreciate what our director was trying to create here.

VIDEO: After much consideration, I was happy with the final outcome of this film. The music, the darkness, and just the unknown of turning one corner to the next were impressive. The idea and focus was in place, it just felt like it needed to be storyboarded better.

VISUAL: VHS quality on a VHS tape. Nothing to write home about, the darks seemed too dark, but I have to admit, the colors did stand out. When it was used, it worked well.

SOUND: Not a central focus in this film, very little is remembered as I focused back on the film. It wasn't a major part of the film (outside of the orchestra scene), but when it was used it worked well - just like the choice color.

EXTRAS: There were some fun previews before it for late 90s film. Ahh, remember when just that was good enough to be considered a "special feature".

Overall, would I suggest this film to a friend or family member? I believe so. It had a strong enough messages, despite the lacking characters, and it felt fresh. It was dark, foreign, and sporadic - but it stayed consistent throughout. There were faults, many of which I mentioned earlier, but because of the final effort - it stood out. A DVD edition would be great, but this little VHS worked its magic well for a night where cinema reigned supreme.

Grade: **** out of *****