Odgrobadogroba (2005) Reviews

• An Evening out at the Graveyard

  LiaEnroc2007-02-10

  Set in a little town in Slovenia, the film starts with a quote from J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories: "I was six when I saw that everything was God and my hair stood up." If one wanted to sum up the film in only a couple of words, one could say it is about life and death – in the most literal and metaphorical, the most concrete and abstract, the most comical and serious sense. Pero, the hero of the story magnificently played by Gregor Bakovic;, works as a professional funeral speech writer. His voice-over philosophizes at the beginning, while we are watching a cross-section of a cemetery, the camera tilting up until we see the actual funeral and Pero holding one of his speeches, that "everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die first." This, already, sets the tone for the entire film. Ironic, sarcastic, cynical. Morbid, macabre. It is hilariously funny even though the humor is borderline, the film as a whole not made for the sensitive. Pero's father, still grieving for his wife who passed six years ago, repeatedly tries to commit suicide – in vain. Either a forgotten stool stops the heavy wardrobe from falling right onto and squashing his face, or the knot of the rope tied around his neck and a tree branch was not done properly and gets loose. You laugh at attempted suicide, especially when Pero in complete frustration screams: "If you do this one more time, I'm gonna kill you!", and feel ashamed for doing so at the same time. Never before was watching somebody (in this case Pero) listening to language study tapes and repeating phrases in British English so amusing, or, for that matter, never has one giggled about funeral speeches before. These elaborate and witty talks are rather personal, reflect Pero's state of mind and, thus, become increasingly sarcastic. Eventually he 'denounces' death saying it is even more unavoidable than life: "Not everyone is born, but everybody dies." Gravehopping is a pitch-black comedy that leaves the audience utterly unprepared for the sudden eruptions of violence scattered over the film. Pero's sweet friend, and potential girlfriend, turns out to have a liking in sadomasochism and, out of frustration, spontaneously decides to smash her face full front onto a big innocent stone ashtray, so hard that you inarbitrarily reach to your own face to ease the phantom pain you experience. His dumb and most likely mentally handicapped sister is brutally raped, tortured, and mutilated by three men and promptly revenged by Šuki, Pero's friend and neighbor. The film turns from tragic to catastrophic, often on the verge of being unbearable. Emotionally. Jan Cvitkovic; is a master in triggering off any kind of feelings that are humanly possible to experience and Simon Tansek's cinematography is outstanding. Deeply upsetting scenes are frequently followed by long, slow, and quiet shots from unusual angles. However, this sudden slow-pacing of the film does not at all create slow moments in the film but give the audience time to breathe, time to deal with and sort out what they have just seen. In this world of existentialist adults, the only child is left confused, as well. Pero's nephew insists on not being buried, once he will be dead, because "Hell is down and Heaven is up." And human life is something in between, in between Heaven and Hell, life and death – as the shot of the moths struggling in the water beautifully symbolizes. The film ends, as it should, with a funeral – Cvitkovic; style – and as the end credits roll the emotionally utterly exhausted audience hears the popular song "I will survive" - Slovenian folk style. So, what is the message of the film? That life is a 'bitch' and we're all doomed to die? That black humor and cynicism are the only way to survive? Or that love is ultimately all that really counts? Maybe none of them, or all at once. Jan told me anyway that, "I just like to throw that stuff, those pictures and words at the audience and not comment on it at all. You know, I want them to think about what it means, to decide for themselves." Gravehopping is one of the most remarkable film productions I have seen in my life – a successful combination of smart writing and esthetic and artistic cinematography. And even though the subtitles seem to work almost surprisingly well, I hardly dare to imagine how even more brilliant the movie must be if you actually understand the Slovenian language.

• Fantastically Funny, Yet Beautifully Dark!!!

  blrock22008-05-17

  Excellent movie about.. well.. uhm.. a guy who earns his living by doing funeral speeches, a suicidal and widowed father and a sister and her kid who really miss their man/father. And then there's another sister who's really quite a few fries short of a happy meal and a quiet but cheerful neighbor. A typical tragic comedy, East-European style? Perhaps... but an endearing and surprisingly dark one too. Plot-wise: wow.. it's a well balanced set of interacting stories, with intelligent and witty dialogues and scenes. It's also very brutal in its sadness, the final scene really took my breath away and I immediately checked the audience's reaction which was very similar. Conclusion: A cynic would call this a cynical feel-good movie and I'd agree. I loved its ups and downs of happy and sad moments and characters. Very beautiful. A real Gem if you can find it!

• Seattle International Film Festival - David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

  rdjeffers2006-06-01

  Wednesday June 14, 4:15pm Pacific Place Cinemas Friday June 16, 9:45pm Pacific Place Cinemas "I'll bet there are lots of guys in London who can talk with a London accent, and it's no particular turn on to anybody." Pero (Gregor Bakovic) spends his time in the cemetery. He performs funeral eulogies for a living in his little Slovenian town. His best friend Suki (Drago Milinovic) lives in a garage, " I want to be buried with my car." A catatonic father bent on suicide, a mute sister who slinks around like a cat in Suki's garage and a beautiful but secretive girlfriend Renata (Mojca Fatur) are among the eccentric graveside characters in 'Gravehopping'. Jan Cvitkovic's second feature is a funny and energetic look at an almost Felliniesque group of people, obsessed with death in their quirky lives, set to the disco hit 'I Will Survive' played by a volunteer brass band. The humor is fresh yet sentimental, and the tragedy genuine with a final, heart- searing surprise, as Pero moves from one death to the next. "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die first."

• 23 awards till now for Gravehopping

  grk332007-11-23

  GRAVEHOPPING receives the award because it makes you laugh, plays with death and in the end stabs you in the heart. -Jury at the Turin Film Festival, 2005 Theatre of absurd which translates insecurities and values of the whole of humanity into black comedy. In his second film Cvitkovič revolutionary transforms Balkan cinematography. The film is already a classic. -The official catalogue of the Turin Film Festival, 2005 The film is beautiful because it is the complete opposite of the films by Emir Kusturica. -Bruno Fornara for La Republicca Set in the idyllic Slovene Karst region, black comedy by Jan Cvitkovič opens with a quote by J.D. Salinger: 'When I was six I realized that god was everything and that made my hair stand on end.' His hero Pero makes his living with funeral speeches, while his father Dedo, still mourning after his wife died six years ago, keeps trying, innovatively but unsuccessfully, to kill himself. Pero's speeches are full of nonsense, euphemisms and fragments of personal psychology which vanish behind the heads of the bereaved. His neighbour Šuki, after seeing a film with Roman carriages, decides to inventively make and assemble blades on the wheels of his Fiat Cinquecento. The film philosophically faces life and death, heaven and hell, humorously approaches the chaos of life as well as inventively shows suppressed aggression that lies behind the usual façades or flares up with grotesque brutality which suddenly bursts out from the relaxing environment. Gregor Baković created a brilliant funeral role as Pero. All the other actors in this Cvitkovič's black and ironic portrait of human condition are absolutely self-confident.

• Speed Unbalanced

  jazdir2007-04-26

  I highly appreciate European low-budget films that tell interesting stories. I don't think this one does, though. I find it way over too slow, I think the characters are not deep enough and the story is hardly found, without reaching the lyricism it suggested from the comments I had read. It looked promising but I found only one (maybe two) surprising moments and I don't know if it is worth waiting for it. The whole philosophy of the movie, apart from the obvious presence of death as something no one can avoid, seems to be that sex drives all human behavior. It's an opinion that I respect but the way to tell it could have been much richer.