Munje!

Yes, "Munje" is basically a piece of crap, but at least the scruffy-looking pseudo-hippy ultra-nationalist Fascist-Marxist (wtf!?) Maradona-hugging "poet" Kusturica had nothing to do with it. Pew...

This was the runaway hit in Serbia when it came out, breaking all sorts of records. The truth is, however, this: 1) Serbian audiences, while just as critical/picky as any nation when it comes to foreign productions, are VERY easy to please when offered the latest cheap locally-made crap. (Patriotism? Serbo-Croatian language bonus? Who knows...) 2) "Munje" came out after a long string of Serb movies that were political, heavy-handed and depressing. "Munje", on the other hand, gave the crowds something to relax to, being the kind of movie you can almost throw in the "Porky's" category. Hence the success of the movie, which came out at just the right time, should be taken with a grain of salt and not raise hopes too much.

Personally, I had no hopes as I prepared to watch it. Serbian cinema, like that of most small nations, is rather weak, especially the junk that's been released here in the last decade or so. "Munje" has no plot to speak of, but this is not a problem. The problem is that it's supposed to be a comedy yet simply isn't funny. It may be grin-worthy on several occasions, but the dialogue and some of the acting verges on the amateurish, a lot of both being very forced. Sergej Trifunovic, who is treated as a kind of Sean Penn or Edward Norton in Serbia, has very little charisma and absolutely no talent for comedy whatsoever. (I can already hear the screams of protest...) He is a little nepotistic preppie - a major reason why Serbian movies suck as much as they do. Whereas in Hollywood the occasional nobody can make it big now and then, in Serbia absolutely no-one can break into movies unless they have very fat (family) connections. (And no: I am not a struggling, bitter actor.) Trifunovic seems to force the role to suit him, and ends up being fake. Plus, he's too old for the role. Even worse is Maja Mandzuka: a cute girl, but with the acting ability of a goat lost at pasture (yes, another nepotist). Her monotone voice will put you to sleep quicker than the mostly lame gags. You wouldn't be blamed if you thought she was reading her lines straight off an auto-cue.

Boris Milivojevic is dull, ditto Zoran Cvijanovic, Djuricko has charisma but his role is crap, so that leaves us only with Glogovac as the only actor here who seems to know what he's doing. (Alas, he has a small role.) The stunningly beautiful Danijela Vranjes appears far too briefly to be able to redeem this turkey.

The much-praised soundtrack is forgettable, with the exception of Vroom, who briefly provide some much-needed energy.

Serbian cinematography in the last decade dealt mainly with post war traumas and political issues, which means it didn't attract much attention from viewers who don't sympathize with "nation attacked by the whole world". However, Munje! is totally unpolitical and unburdened with sending any messages to the world. It is just very, very, very funny movie! It deserves all the awards and praises by critics as well as the audience who stormed cinemas in Serbia when it was released (more than 600.000 viewers). It happens rarely that good movie is recognized by majority of the audience but Munje! is exception. I try to avoid modern movies from former Yugoslavia areas, because they are usually overvalued. But Munje! is made on another level, I dare to say Andric is metropolitan Kusturica. P.S. Watching Slovenian copy Tu pa tam leaves really bad taste...

Well, you're not bound to be from Serbia to like the film, i'm from the neighboring Bulgaria. I find the film very fresh, and though the story ain't much, the script and dialogue are great. I even understood something like half the film only by listening and not reading subtitles :) (figures, our languages are not so different after all...) But the thing that I totally loved was the music. Since the film is mainly about 2 guys who try to break in the scene with their drum'n'base rhythms, the OST ought to be gorgeous, and it is, with a good mix of styles btw :D

What else can I say? The film is a must-see for every fan of the street/underground culture.

This movie was seen by over 600,000 people in Serbia alone which is more than any other Serbian film drew to cinemas in recent years and I read it's very popular in other ex-Yugoslav republics as well. I can certainly understand why audiences in that part of the planet flocked to see it in such high numbers. It is a first motion picture coming out of those parts in a long, long time that doesn't in any way deal with war, misery, refugees, effects of economic sanctions, death, gore, ethnic hatred... etc, choosing instead to focus on other, more cheerful aspects of life in Serbia.

And while second-time director Rasa Andric deserves praise for attempting something different, all this doesn't hide the fact that this movie is NOT very good.

It employs a basic teen premise, even though most of it's protagonists are pushing thirty, placed in the setting of drum'n'base music (which is there I guess to provide the audience with a feeling they're getting an insight into something 'cool and progressive'). Compared to similarly set Serbian movies like 1992's "Mi nismo andjeli" and 1989's "Kako je propao rokenrol", "Munje" falls well short. I never got a sense that characters I'm watching are real people in any way - most of what they said or did seemed very much laboured and contrived. Other two movies also developed a lot more characters whereas "Munje" relies far too much on two central guys Pop (Sergej Trifunovic) and Mare (Boris Milivojevic) who, frankly, are not very captivating. The two chicks also get plenty of screen time. But despite their high billing these are just throwaway roles, simply tagging along with the guys - they don't influence the plot in any way whatsoever.

Plenty of visual tricks are on display too, and that, coupled with 'the look' and music, gives this movie a feeling of the music video. And that's probably the best way to describe it - an extended music video with one dimensional characters. It's a mix of cool individual scenes that fail to add up to anything even remotely interesting.

If you want to see light-hearted, youth-oriented movies from Serbia better than this one, watch "Mi nismo andjeli" or "Kako je propao rokenrol" instead.

The screenplay needed some polishing. At times it is funny, at times it gets cheesy and lazy. But it is a fond memory for me. The film does manage to capture much of the surreal feel of turn-of-the-century Belgrade, and I appreciate that. There was this feeling of being torn and desperately trying to escape to some better place, not just away from Serbia, but away from all the nihilism. I myself left Serbia around that time, and it wasn't so much because of poverty. It was an attempt to escape the ubiquitous feeling of being torn apart and inability to make sense of things. Like many others, I found out that I merely jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the western world took a dramatic turn in the direction of total moral and cultural chaos. Anyway, I enjoy this film despite its faults. Nebojsa Glogovac definitely saves the day in a minor role as a reluctant cop who'd rather smoke weed with the protagonists. I give the film 8 stars, and that's generous.