The movie Nada - A Story of Hope, which "nada" directly translates to "hope" from Bosnian (and most other Ex-Yugoslav languages) starts off with a poem. It's a simple poem about a street, while at the same time the frame showcases an image of a town that could be anywhere in the Balkans. Some old house roofs, a mosque minaret, and cheap residential buildings in the bare concrete, long pass their socialistic hay day. Above them, calm blue skies. All seems peaceful as the poem unravels, almost outside of any present space-time continuous.
Then, the story kicks in in a moment, showing the residents of the same town. They try to get by while they go to work, drink with their lowlife friends, or scramble to get their first job. One of them is Damir, an ordinary teen looking to do the same for his life. However, the brutal and bleak reality of modern Bosnian life, now well in its third post-war decade, is still a harsh and grinding reality. For Damir, this means a violent pull into the world of petty but relentless crime, personified in Kiki, a local street thug with driving ambition.
There's a smoothness in the way Dino Longo Sabanovic, who wrote and directed the film, showcases Damir's story. Using a lot from both natural settings and (I'm guessing) local and amateur actors, he creates a piece of art that easily communicates on a very emotional basis. For example, sequences where Kiki leads Damir and the rest of the gang to a derelict tavern after a job includes a very interesting process of applying two soundtracks. One is the atmospheric music in the actual club and the other is a classical piano tune taking place over it. All the while, the ramblings of Kiki are heard as well as his deal to sell the stolen goods goes down.
In theory, none of this should work, but it blends seamlessly in a form of outer manifestation of what is to be Damir. Yes, you can get high, you can get drunk or even feel euphoric, but you’re still trapped and wedged between all the wrong, humiliating and even tragically final choices you can make. Yet, throughout the film, you see glimmers of hope, just like its name says - from the serene nature that surrounds the town to the images of Josip Broz Tito, which is presented almost like a divine figure or long-lost saint and finally, in the character of Merima.
Then, the story kicks in in a moment, showing the residents of the same town. They try to get by while they go to work, drink with their lowlife friends, or scramble to get their first job. One of them is Damir, an ordinary teen looking to do the same for his life. However, the brutal and bleak reality of modern Bosnian life, now well in its third post-war decade, is still a harsh and grinding reality. For Damir, this means a violent pull into the world of petty but relentless crime, personified in Kiki, a local street thug with driving ambition.
There's a smoothness in the way Dino Longo Sabanovic, who wrote and directed the film, showcases Damir's story. Using a lot from both natural settings and (I'm guessing) local and amateur actors, he creates a piece of art that easily communicates on a very emotional basis. For example, sequences where Kiki leads Damir and the rest of the gang to a derelict tavern after a job includes a very interesting process of applying two soundtracks. One is the atmospheric music in the actual club and the other is a classical piano tune taking place over it. All the while, the ramblings of Kiki are heard as well as his deal to sell the stolen goods goes down.
Damir’s straight-shooting neighbor, she also personifies the notion that he’s not trapped by surroundings, but also by his subtle desire to let himself go to the currents of life, instead of swimming against them. All the while, his ordeal with Kiki and the gang continue to escalate, slowly eclipsing his chances with Merima or a better life in Germany.
It’s easy to see some hints of the early works of Emir Kusturica in the work of Sabanovic. It's a bit harder to see naturalistic elements of Želimir Žilnik and the use of photography to show the landscape of the character souls of Andrei Tarkovsky. However, they are all here and Nada carries all of them. This first feature film might not be technically perfect, but it does not strive to be nor does it need it. Instead, it offers Damir, true as so many real people struggling not just in Bosnia, but all over the world where past wars, poverty and lack of any prospect turn daily lives into endless struggles with that dark and unforgiving river of fate.
It’s easy to see some hints of the early works of Emir Kusturica in the work of Sabanovic. It's a bit harder to see naturalistic elements of Želimir Žilnik and the use of photography to show the landscape of the character souls of Andrei Tarkovsky. However, they are all here and Nada carries all of them. This first feature film might not be technically perfect, but it does not strive to be nor does it need it. Instead, it offers Damir, true as so many real people struggling not just in Bosnia, but all over the world where past wars, poverty and lack of any prospect turn daily lives into endless struggles with that dark and unforgiving river of fate.
