I greatly enjoyed this satire at the time I saw it and still think about it with a great dose of excitement for its witty humor and a wonderful performance by Milena Dravic.
I will give you a brief description of the plot and then present the details I liked the best.
I think that its subject should appeal to everyone: The storyline follows a simple, rather dumb but strong woman in the pre- World War II Yugoslavia, whose life suddenly changes when her husband becomes a minister. Being absurdly self-aware of her lack of manners, education, and most of all, lack of knowledge of what ministers' wives are supposed to do, she goes a long way to blindly follow social "rules" for ministers' wives, and in the process, arranging her life and the life of her family. She even accepts, though unwillingly, to have a "rent-a-lover," because all previous ministers' wives had one. Not surprisingly, all this creates a chaos for her and her family, but a bunch of laughs for the viewer.
Well, I hope I did not say too much. I believe this is one of the best (if not the best) performance of Milena Dravic. She captures every scene she is in: she can be meek and fearful in one scene, a raging bull in another, completely bored, or trembling with excitement in some other scenes. Besides a very good play by Branislav Nusic, she is the chief factor behind the success of this satire. I have to point out that every character echoes with uniqueness, and Mrs. Dravic shows her full acting ingeniousness when she transforms her personality in dealing with every character.
OK. Let's talk bad. This is a television adaptation of Nusic's play done with a very limited budget. You might find it boring that the whole action takes place inside a house. This is precisely why I use the word 'satire' instead of a 'tv movie,' because you have a feeling as if you are in the audience, watching a play. I don't particularly like the way the play was directed, nor the music arrangement in it, but all that falls short once you get into the characters.
Also, if you are a big fan of Hollywood slapstick comedies, you might not like it. This is a character comedy, almost entirely done in terms of dialog, although there are exceptions (e.g. the scene with an ambassador and a maid)
I highly recommend this satire. If it is dubbed in your native language, you should certainly see it, because it will show you the power of acting.
I will give you a brief description of the plot and then present the details I liked the best.
I think that its subject should appeal to everyone: The storyline follows a simple, rather dumb but strong woman in the pre- World War II Yugoslavia, whose life suddenly changes when her husband becomes a minister. Being absurdly self-aware of her lack of manners, education, and most of all, lack of knowledge of what ministers' wives are supposed to do, she goes a long way to blindly follow social "rules" for ministers' wives, and in the process, arranging her life and the life of her family. She even accepts, though unwillingly, to have a "rent-a-lover," because all previous ministers' wives had one. Not surprisingly, all this creates a chaos for her and her family, but a bunch of laughs for the viewer.
Well, I hope I did not say too much. I believe this is one of the best (if not the best) performance of Milena Dravic. She captures every scene she is in: she can be meek and fearful in one scene, a raging bull in another, completely bored, or trembling with excitement in some other scenes. Besides a very good play by Branislav Nusic, she is the chief factor behind the success of this satire. I have to point out that every character echoes with uniqueness, and Mrs. Dravic shows her full acting ingeniousness when she transforms her personality in dealing with every character.
OK. Let's talk bad. This is a television adaptation of Nusic's play done with a very limited budget. You might find it boring that the whole action takes place inside a house. This is precisely why I use the word 'satire' instead of a 'tv movie,' because you have a feeling as if you are in the audience, watching a play. I don't particularly like the way the play was directed, nor the music arrangement in it, but all that falls short once you get into the characters.
Also, if you are a big fan of Hollywood slapstick comedies, you might not like it. This is a character comedy, almost entirely done in terms of dialog, although there are exceptions (e.g. the scene with an ambassador and a maid)
I highly recommend this satire. If it is dubbed in your native language, you should certainly see it, because it will show you the power of acting.
