"Ta divna splitska noc" belongs to the latest wave of Croatian movie-making, which has in the recent years kindled a new hope for the future of this cinematography. Following the trend, the film bursts with dark humor and honestly explores the painful sores of a frustrated post-war society.
The storyline encompasses three loosely connected episodes, all of them taking place simultaneously during the final hours of seeing the Old Year out in the coastal city of Split, Croatia. There is some Tarantinoesque moving back and forth through time, though rather conservative as compared to "Pulp Fiction" - each of the three stories runs its course from start to end, to be followed by another. Some of the characters meander throughout the movie, some are resurrected from their deaths as we step back in time, but each of the stories is narrated as a linear episode in itself.
The subject matter is deeply rooted in the dark side of the contemporary Croatian reality, focusing on dissipated war veterans, drug abuse, teenagers with no present or future, a general feeling of hopelessness. A war widow is having a torrid affair with her late husband's war buddy, who doesn't really care about her; a depressed American sailor is reluctantly fitted with a reluctant prostitute for the night; two teenagers consent to lose their virginity with each other, only to be faced with a lack of premises to do so. When the midnight finally arrives, the New Year brings forth not only the fireworks, but madness and violent death as well.
Mirko Pivcevic shot the film in a lavish black-and-white photography, bringing to mind Robert Krasker's Viennese sewers of "The Third Man". Split is an ancient Mediterranean city and most of its historic core is carved in weathered stone, so it looks great by day and sensational by night, given a proper lighting. The overall production highly surpasses the film's modest budget. There are some minor flaws, such as amateurish rantings of Coolio's drunken sailor buddies, but most of the actors are up to their tasks, and the direction by Arsen Anton Ostojic is inspired. I particularly enjoyed the vigorous performance of the eccentric local celebrity, Dino Dvornik, as the Singer.
