Apparently a metaphor for Yugoslavian politics and society circa 1968...you couldn't prove it by me, but that's besides the point.
Makavejev was interviewed following a showing on the Sundance channel, and explained that he stumbled on a Yugoslavian film made by a noted strongman and aerialist during the German Occupation (WWII for those born after 1950), and then unearthed years later from its hiding place. It turned out that many of the cast and crew were still living in the 1960's, so he fashioned a wrap-around story about a director making a documentary intercutting the original film and German and Yugoslav news footage from the same period with present-day interviews with the original cast (Pirandello, anyone?)
The metaphors are impenetrable for those outside the society, but the footage of Alexis the strongman doing his stunts both then and now is quite thrilling, the original film footage is charmingly naive and the newsreel material is shocking. Film as pure sensation, with some marvelous and perhaps unintentional humor. Well worth 90 minutes of your time, particularly when you compare it to your nabe's current listings....
Makavejev was interviewed following a showing on the Sundance channel, and explained that he stumbled on a Yugoslavian film made by a noted strongman and aerialist during the German Occupation (WWII for those born after 1950), and then unearthed years later from its hiding place. It turned out that many of the cast and crew were still living in the 1960's, so he fashioned a wrap-around story about a director making a documentary intercutting the original film and German and Yugoslav news footage from the same period with present-day interviews with the original cast (Pirandello, anyone?)
The metaphors are impenetrable for those outside the society, but the footage of Alexis the strongman doing his stunts both then and now is quite thrilling, the original film footage is charmingly naive and the newsreel material is shocking. Film as pure sensation, with some marvelous and perhaps unintentional humor. Well worth 90 minutes of your time, particularly when you compare it to your nabe's current listings....
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