Know each other is a first step to stop hating each other.
Nebojsa RIP... We miss you so much
8 Reviews
Great movie
abmarine-9574030 January 2020
A solid drama with elements of dark mystery
MachinaEx14 May 2017
These types of movie are pretty rare from the Balkans, they actually show the dark truth that everything is not how we imagined it, and that many things are lost to us. The Constitution of Republic of Croatia is film which just shows how the Croatian society looks at thing openly, and how they do it in the shadows. A homosexual man who adores Independent State of Croatia and a mixed-marriage who believe that people are people are at the main prime of these story. In short a combination of hypocrisy and nationalism......what can be better then this!
Equality Vs. Prejudice
ilovesaturdays4 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This beautiful little film is set in Croatia but the issues raised have a global appeal. It serves as a moral parable to demonstrate that if we wish to make a world where everybody is equal, then we need to get rid of all kinds of prejudice; be it class-based, race-based or sexual-orientation based.
Vjeko Kralj is a high school professor living in an apartment complex in Zagreb. He is forced to live a secret life on account of being gay and transvestite. His father, Hrvoje Kralj is a Croat war veteran who is an invalid having had both his legs amputated while serving his country. Both the father & son are staunch nationalists. The father-son duo have a love-hate relationship since the father is a homophobe and has always treated his gay son poorly. Having lost the man who was the love of his life, Vjeko is only surviving out of duty & love for his father, even though he resents his father & sometimes finds it hard to carry on caring about his cruel father. Outside of his home also, Vjeko has a hard life. He is victimized by some homophobic individuals who beat him up mercilessly one night. But, as much as we sympathize with Vjeko, we soon see that he is not perfect either. He is a recluse who does not mingle with his neighbors. He is prejudiced against all Serbs, so much so that he would stop enjoying a great meal, should he hear midway that it is a delicacy from Serbia.
Maja Samardzic is the heart of this story. She is a nurse who lives in the same building complex as Vjeko. She is a Croat who fell in love with her cop husband, Ante Samardzic who is a Serb. Maja is a kind-hearted & compassionate woman who sees the good in everyone. She recognizes the battered & bruised Vjeko as he is brought into the hospital where she works. Once he is released from the hospital, she offers to help Vjeko with his bandaging & also with his father. Vjeko is grateful and offers to pay her, but she flat out refuses saying that where she comes from, people help their neighbors. Slowly, Vjeko starts warming up to her & once while having tea, asks her why she chose to marry a Serb when being a beautiful woman, she could've had her pick of men. She puts him in place by replying that she fell in love & that love sees no prejudice. She then asks Vjeko to give lessons in Croatian constitution to her husband Ante, who needs to know it by heart from his upcoming promotion exam. Vjeko agrees but his dislike of Serbs gets in the way. He is rude to Ante who returns insolence with insolence. Slowly, Maja makes them both see that a little bit of empathy goes a long way. Eventually, these strangers give Vjeko a new reason to live!
Vjeko Kralj is a high school professor living in an apartment complex in Zagreb. He is forced to live a secret life on account of being gay and transvestite. His father, Hrvoje Kralj is a Croat war veteran who is an invalid having had both his legs amputated while serving his country. Both the father & son are staunch nationalists. The father-son duo have a love-hate relationship since the father is a homophobe and has always treated his gay son poorly. Having lost the man who was the love of his life, Vjeko is only surviving out of duty & love for his father, even though he resents his father & sometimes finds it hard to carry on caring about his cruel father. Outside of his home also, Vjeko has a hard life. He is victimized by some homophobic individuals who beat him up mercilessly one night. But, as much as we sympathize with Vjeko, we soon see that he is not perfect either. He is a recluse who does not mingle with his neighbors. He is prejudiced against all Serbs, so much so that he would stop enjoying a great meal, should he hear midway that it is a delicacy from Serbia.
Maja Samardzic is the heart of this story. She is a nurse who lives in the same building complex as Vjeko. She is a Croat who fell in love with her cop husband, Ante Samardzic who is a Serb. Maja is a kind-hearted & compassionate woman who sees the good in everyone. She recognizes the battered & bruised Vjeko as he is brought into the hospital where she works. Once he is released from the hospital, she offers to help Vjeko with his bandaging & also with his father. Vjeko is grateful and offers to pay her, but she flat out refuses saying that where she comes from, people help their neighbors. Slowly, Vjeko starts warming up to her & once while having tea, asks her why she chose to marry a Serb when being a beautiful woman, she could've had her pick of men. She puts him in place by replying that she fell in love & that love sees no prejudice. She then asks Vjeko to give lessons in Croatian constitution to her husband Ante, who needs to know it by heart from his upcoming promotion exam. Vjeko agrees but his dislike of Serbs gets in the way. He is rude to Ante who returns insolence with insolence. Slowly, Maja makes them both see that a little bit of empathy goes a long way. Eventually, these strangers give Vjeko a new reason to live!
Nebojsa Glogovac
emma-nikitina8 February 2019
Nebojsa Glogovac was the greatest serbian theatre amd movie actor of the recent times. Extremely popular in the former Jugoslavia and adoredin Serbia. That was his last film before he died off lung cancer aged 47.
In my opinion, his performance in this film is one of the best ever done in the history of cinema. Just watch it to get assured I am telling the truth.
A great movie...
faber-tea30 January 2020
Class and ethnicity in a Croatian apartment house
Red-12523 October 2017
The Croatian film Ustav Republike Hrvatske (Constitution of the Republic of Croatia) was shown in the U.S. with the title The Constitution (2016). It was co-written and directed by Rajko Grlic.
The movie is about the actions--and interactions--of four Croatians. The situation is complicated for many reasons. One reason is class differences. Vjeko Kralj (Nebojsa Glogovac) is an upper class professor. He lives with his bedridden father Hrvoje Kralj (Bozidar Smiljanic), who was a leading Fascist general.
A working-class couple live in the same apartment building. Maja and Ante Samardzic (Ksenija Marinkovic and Dejan Acimovic) are a nurse and a police officer, respectively.
The situation is also complicated by ethnicity. Maja and Ante are from Serbia. Even though Ante fought for Croatia against the Serbs, the ethnic Croatians dislike them on the basis of their origins. (To this day, many Serbs hate Croatians and many Croatians hate Serbs. You can read about it in Wikipedia.)
Fate throws the four people closer together. Vieko is gay, and a cross-dresser. He is the victim of homophobic violence, and enters a hospital where Maja is a nurse. When he gets home, he can't care for himself, let alone his father. Maja becomes their caretaker. In return, Vieko will tutor Ante on the Croatian Constitution. Every police officer has to be tested on the Constitution, and Ante has dyslexia, so he's having trouble.
How this all works out makes for a fascinating film. It's one of those movies that appear to be going nowhere, when suddenly things begin to click.
We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It was screened as part of the great ImageOut LGBT Film Festival. This was the movie's New York State premiere. (It's always important when a movie is shown first in Rochester than in New York City.) It will work well on the small screen. Seek it out and watch it!
The movie is about the actions--and interactions--of four Croatians. The situation is complicated for many reasons. One reason is class differences. Vjeko Kralj (Nebojsa Glogovac) is an upper class professor. He lives with his bedridden father Hrvoje Kralj (Bozidar Smiljanic), who was a leading Fascist general.
A working-class couple live in the same apartment building. Maja and Ante Samardzic (Ksenija Marinkovic and Dejan Acimovic) are a nurse and a police officer, respectively.
The situation is also complicated by ethnicity. Maja and Ante are from Serbia. Even though Ante fought for Croatia against the Serbs, the ethnic Croatians dislike them on the basis of their origins. (To this day, many Serbs hate Croatians and many Croatians hate Serbs. You can read about it in Wikipedia.)
Fate throws the four people closer together. Vieko is gay, and a cross-dresser. He is the victim of homophobic violence, and enters a hospital where Maja is a nurse. When he gets home, he can't care for himself, let alone his father. Maja becomes their caretaker. In return, Vieko will tutor Ante on the Croatian Constitution. Every police officer has to be tested on the Constitution, and Ante has dyslexia, so he's having trouble.
How this all works out makes for a fascinating film. It's one of those movies that appear to be going nowhere, when suddenly things begin to click.
We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It was screened as part of the great ImageOut LGBT Film Festival. This was the movie's New York State premiere. (It's always important when a movie is shown first in Rochester than in New York City.) It will work well on the small screen. Seek it out and watch it!
Pretentious Boredom
zed172 May 2021
Another sad reminder of the situation in Croatian cinema.
This film should be a satire, but it is devoid of any humor and any balance of story. The film is boring and banal, and any attempt at some kind of humor is so pathetic that it's just sad. Croatian films cannot escape politics, and neither can this one. This attempt at satire was therefore doomed at the very beginning.
The film is pretentious and boring and it is a real torture to watch this film to the end. When a film is so pretentious, it is impossible to take it seriously and it simply causes a complete counter-effect. The stereotypes the film is about are so banal, the film is a complete cliché and a parody of itself. Really sad.
The actors tried as hard as they could, but the film is a total disaster. In the end, it turned out that watching this movie was a complete waste of time.
This film should be a satire, but it is devoid of any humor and any balance of story. The film is boring and banal, and any attempt at some kind of humor is so pathetic that it's just sad. Croatian films cannot escape politics, and neither can this one. This attempt at satire was therefore doomed at the very beginning.
The film is pretentious and boring and it is a real torture to watch this film to the end. When a film is so pretentious, it is impossible to take it seriously and it simply causes a complete counter-effect. The stereotypes the film is about are so banal, the film is a complete cliché and a parody of itself. Really sad.
The actors tried as hard as they could, but the film is a total disaster. In the end, it turned out that watching this movie was a complete waste of time.
Boooorrrrriiiinnnnngggggggg
rinakarinaka6 March 2021
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