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Man Is Not a Bird

Original title: Covek nije tica
  • 1965
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
Man Is Not a Bird (1965)
SatireComedyDramaRomance

Engineer lodging at hairdresser's home sparks complex relationship. Situation intensifies when young driver enters the picture, altering dynamics between all involved.Engineer lodging at hairdresser's home sparks complex relationship. Situation intensifies when young driver enters the picture, altering dynamics between all involved.Engineer lodging at hairdresser's home sparks complex relationship. Situation intensifies when young driver enters the picture, altering dynamics between all involved.

  • Director
    • Dusan Makavejev
  • Writers
    • Dusan Makavejev
    • Rasa Popov
  • Stars
    • Milena Dravic
    • Janez Vrhovec
    • Eva Ras
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    1.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Dusan Makavejev
    • Writers
      • Dusan Makavejev
      • Rasa Popov
    • Stars
      • Milena Dravic
      • Janez Vrhovec
      • Eva Ras
    • 11User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 nominations total

    Photos71

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    Top cast29

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    Milena Dravic
    Milena Dravic
    • Rajka
    Janez Vrhovec
    • Jan Rudinski
    Eva Ras
    Eva Ras
    • Barbuloviceva zena
    Stojan 'Stole' Arandjelovic
    • Barbulovic 'Barbul'
    • (as Stole Arandjelovic)
    Boris Dvornik
    • Vozac kamiona
    Roko Cirkovic
    • Roko hipnotizer
    Lepa Landek
    Bosa Stojadinovic
    Milan Lugomirski
      Dusan Bajcetic
      Mirko Todorovic
      Iva Raickovic
      Dusan Janicijevic
      • Direktor
      • (as Dusko Janicijevic)
      Sreten Sokolov
      Borivoje Perovic
      Sefket Sekirovski
      Ilija Jovanovic
      Djurdjevka Cakarevic
      • Operska pevacica
      • Director
        • Dusan Makavejev
      • Writers
        • Dusan Makavejev
        • Rasa Popov
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      User reviews11

      7.11.4K
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      Featured reviews

      7jordondave-28085

      No plot to speak of but still engrossing

      (1965) Man Is Not A Bird/ Covek nije tica (In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles) SOCIAL COMMENTARY/ DRAMA/ NEO-REALIST

      Made in Yugoslavia, written and directed by Dusan Makavejev centering on a small community which much of the employment produces several types of medal from lead, iron to copper. An elder gentleman, Jan Rudinski (Janez Vrhove) ccomes by for the purpose of improving productivity by installing machinery that can cut the company's costs. Apparently, this old gentleman is an engineer, and during his stay strikes a physical relationship with a 22 year old hairdresser, Rajka (Milena Dravic) who happens to be the daughter of the landlords whose renting to him. The movie appears to be plot less showcasing the actors actions with many actual locations but engrossing nevertheless. There's also a hypnotist who appears at the beginning and then toward somewhere near the end which theirs supposed to be a direct correlation between that and the workers.
      8AdamSixties

      Man is not a Bird: Yugoslav Filmmaking at its Best

      One of Makavejev's 1st films, the title, Man is Not a Bird refers to a hypnotist who makes people act like birds. It seems to be a veiled reference to the authorities; one line actually mentions the "authorities", but that's as specific as it was allowed to be at the time.

      Shot is black and white in 1965 Covek Nije Tice depicts a man who cheats on his wife, but is still considered a heroic worker for propaganda purposes. Another man, an engineer who comes to town finds himself attracted to the daughter of his landlord.

      It's a great film because of the atmosphere it creates of the Yugoslav world, especially significant since the destruction of that world.
      7Quinoa1984

      a rough, fascinating debut with a few dull bits

      Dusan Makavejev made himself known in the world of international cinema with his first film, Man in Not a Bird, and it's a film that juggles stories and a political atmosphere (mostly) in the guise of a documentary on a copper mill. It deals with romance and work, two themes that Makavejev would toy with and dissect with his anarchic and absurdist style throughout his whole career. It's about a construction foreman, Jan Rudinski (Janez Vrhovec), who is in town to oversee the copper mill, and a hairdresser named Rajka (Milena Dravić) who falls in love with him. How this happens is never made exactly clear, even as Makavejev indulges in a moodily-lit lovemaking scene that tells us all we need to know about their passion, nor is it clear how he is really attracted to her. That is, until their relationship becomes compromised by a man closer to her age, a guy who always comes in to the barbershop to get shaved even when he doesn't need it, just to hit on her.

      It's this, plus an undercooked story of a drunken man and his troublesome own affair that brings out a huge girl-fight between his wife and his lover in the middle of a street, that marks the dramatic side of the picture. Mixing in and out of these stories is footage of the mill, the workers working diligently, leading up to a big celebratory concert where Beethoven's 9th fills the air (also in cutaways to Rajka having her fling with the man in the truck as her actual lover sits in his awarding ceremony).

      It's not filled with Makavejev's rampant humor, and it's more of a real "film" instead of one of his hybrid comedy-documentaries. Man is Not a Bird is a fresh burst of original film-making, and if it's not always engaging during its 79 minutes (I found myself tuning out in a couple of scenes) it's still reveals an artist with something to say. There's something urgent about his film, particularly towards the end and during those hypnotist scenes where the audience is enraptures by the hypnotists skills directing people on a stage. Makavejev is after an essential truth in human nature: work and love can't always go together, or sometimes one takes over the other, and a (Communist) nation like the one this is set in needs to find a balance of both.
      8treywillwest

      Nope

      As a matter of pure pleasure, a measurement held dear by this auteur, this might compete with the great "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" as my favorite of Machevejev's movies. It's probably not the writer- director's second greatest work, but, with it's movingly alive, yet unflattering depiction of a communist- Yugoslavia mining town, it particularly moved me. The film's critique of Yugoslavian communism: profoundly, but predictably disappointing, yet just barely worthy of affirmation, seemed to me a brilliant description of life itself.

      Machevejev may well be the most affirmationally erotic artist in the cinematic canon. Human touch always affirms life, for the better or worse of the subsequently affirmed. Here, all involved turn out okay: they get to continue to enjoy the spectacle that is the socialist circus of life. (For me, Machevejev's affirmation of the existential circus seems much more sincere than that of, say, Fellini.)
      8ilpohirvonen

      Man Is Not A Bird, Because It Cannot Fly Free: The class division in Yugoslavia

      Covek nije tica AKA Man Is Not A Bird is one of the three first full-length films by director Dusan Makavejev. Makavejev is the most well known and also the most bizarre Yugoslavian director. In his films erotic and political catalog face each other, he combines old propaganda material with early pornographic images (The Switchboard Operator is actually a better example of this). He was one of the most important filmmakers in Novi-film, which means the Eastern bloc new wave during the Cold War.

      The class division to miners and educated experts shocked Makavejev, who wanted to show the true workers. Man Is Not A Bird is about a dull ordinary miner-town, where a hypnotist Roko delivers enjoyment and relief to the workers. He can make them believe that they are free, socialist heroes or even birds. The film has two different stories from the same town. A town which has no way out, which is in domination of its government.

      As we know in the 1960's New Wave ran through Europe. We probably remember best the French new wave (Truffaut, Godard). But the new artistic movement did also arrive to the other side of Europe, to the Eastern bloc. Novi-film doesn't narratively differ much from French new wave, but its collage-style is something you don't see in France. They are as cheer as other new wave films, but also the satire of them is as strong. In Czechoslovakia for instance the government banned many films by Milos Forman and Jiri Menzel. I don't know much about the destiny of these Yugoslavian films, but they must've shocked people.

      Why a man can't be a bird? He can, only with the help of a hypnotist, but a deeper meaning hides in the title. I thought that it meant; A man is not a bird because it cannot fly free. We can't fly free as birds, because we are held down by society, relationships, work and the pressure of our community. But should we be free like birds? This is a big theme in this fine film by Makavejev and it discusses about it. A Man Is Not A Bird also deals up with class division and other social issues of Yugoslavia. I found it very interesting and well made. If you enjoyed this be sure to check out Dusan Makavejev's other early film: Love Affair: Or The Case of The Missing Switchboard Operator.

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      Related interests

      Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
      Satire
      Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
      Comedy
      Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
      Drama
      Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
      Romance

      Storyline

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      Did you know

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      • Trivia
        As of 2016 it was included in the #100 Serbian movies list (1911-1999) and protected as cultural heritage of great importance.
      • Connections
        Featured in Balkan Spirit (2013)
      • Soundtracks
        Symphony No. 9 - Ode to Joy
        (uncredited)

        Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

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      FAQ12

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      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • March 6, 1965 (Yugoslavia)
      • Country of origin
        • Yugoslavia
      • Language
        • Serbo-Croatian
      • Also known as
        • Čovek nije tica
      • Production company
        • Avala Film
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Tech specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        • 1h 21m(81 min)
      • Color
        • Black and White
      • Sound mix
        • Mono
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.66 : 1

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