It's Hard to Be Nice

I saw this movie at the International Rotterdam Film Festival by surprise. This festival with lots of debuting directors is always a sort of bingo to see brilliant movies or to walk out of a cinema after terrible movie. For this movie I was invited by a friend. I had no expectations at all. To my surprise it turned out to be a wonderful small surprise with brilliant twists and some shocks. Its the first time I saw a Serbian movie. A brilliant surprise. Funny, small acted, with enough drama and a beautiful end shot. The title in English, It's hard to be nice, tells the story about the movie. I hope this movie will find his international way, because it's worth it.

I recently saw this at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is the second feature film from director Srdan Vuletic who won critical acclaim with his 2003 film Ljeto V Zlatnoj Dolini (Summer in the Golden Valley.) Vuletic hits another home run his second time out and this film is Bosnia & Herzegovina's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film to the Academy Awards. This is a dark drama set in Sarajevo but also sprinkled with plenty of comic relief. From a screenplay by Vuletec and Miroslav Mandic this is the story of Fudo (Sasa Petrovic), a Sarajevo taxi driver married to a beautician named Azra (Daria Lorenci) and raising a young son. Fudo is in debt to a hoodlum named Sejo (Emir Hadzihafizbegovic) who deals in the black market by fencing stolen goods, financing robberies and running drugs. With his marriage breaking up due to his underworld dealings, Fudo decides to go straight and reasons that if he goes into debt with Sejo one last time he can purchase a new mini van taxi, get quality cab fare because of his upgrade, pay off Sejo and win Azra's love back. Of course, and thus the title, he find's it's hard to be nice. Petrovic is superb in the lead role with excellent support from Hadzihafizbegovic. Cinematography by Slobodan Trninic. Music by Sasa Losic and Srdan Krupjel. This is a good film and I would recommend it and give it an 8.0 out of 10.

One of the best (Bosnian) movies I've seen in last years. Bosnia and Herzegovina is still trying to recover from the terrible war (and present silent war) and people are left by their representatives to try to survive those hard conditions (economic and political) in which the country is.

In short, the story is about a taxi driver trying to make the living and to provide for his family the best he can in the situation given. And the situation is a catalyst or a cause for his actions. He tries to be a nice / good person but as the movie shows, in such surroundings, it's not an easy thing.

Definitely worth watching. The cast is great, characters are played in such a way that the viewer really is able to experience the story.

The film "It's Hard to be Nice" directed by Srdjan Vuletic, looks at the postwar emotional landscape of Bosnia, where a collective post traumatic stress disorder has taken hold and defined the normal relations between people. The main character, Fudo, and his friends treat each other with utter contempt, cheating and violently confronting each other at the slightest offense. The outside world is seen with equal hostility, as robbers scan the home addresses of foreigners on extended stay in Sarajevo, targeting their home apartments in Germany and Holland for burglary by accomplices. He wants to be at peace with the world, but that's not so easy, when he is being beaten down by the people and circumstance around him. Almost at the breaking point, in the final scenes he stands bloody and enraged, and stares into the eyes of a young child, deciding what to do.

Sasa Petrovic's performance as Fudo is effective, and he won the best actor award in Sarajevo in 2007 for this role. This is not surprising, considering this is just the type of role that goes over especially well at Sarajevo. Daria Lorenci also does well as his wife Azra. The story is fairly simple, a week-in-the-life formula, and the conflict is on-going and essentially unresolved in the end. This works well, because it reflects the reality of life in Bosnia where an uncertain surreal peace fails to totally mask the wounds. Whether those wounds are healing or festering is still anyone's guess. Bosnian audiences respond positively to a story like this, because it brings these questions out into the open and suggests the possibility that this torn nation will heal through sheer force of reason. It is a pleasant film, but it doesn't really break any new ground. Worth seeing, but don't expect an epiphany.

I liked this movie because it is happening in my city and actors speak in my language. Then it is filled with many very serious, real, funny, humane events or topics. It is about common real life problems like poverty, debt, health, worry, friends... Although there are many filthy words used and events shown, liked it because it is authentic, better that it shows bad real stuff, rather than fake good stuff. Good insight into Sarajevo, but also Bosnia, life of taxi drivers, and typical life of most people. It is filled with many worrying events, all of which I can experience or see outside of movie too. Good creative actors and variety of content, both emotional, subjective, and objective. Perfect Sarajevo or Bosnian movie. Good for Croats and Serbs too.