Film Review: What a Country! (Koja je ovo država!, 2018)

Some filmmakers become successful not because they are particularly talented, but because they have perfect timing. One such filmmaker is Croatian director Vinko Brešan, who built his reputation by breaking Croatian taboos with films made and released at the most opportune moment. In 1996, just after the Homeland War had ended, he treated this grim and traumatic subject with humour instead of pathos in How the War Began on My Island. In 1999, as the rule of the first Croatian president, Franjo Tuđman, was nearing its end, Brešan’s comedy Marshal Tito's Spirit became an allegory for the similarities between Tuđman and the Yugoslav Communist leader Tito. In 2003, Brešan was the first Croatian filmmaker to deal with the even more controversial subject of Croatian war crimes with Witnesses. His latest film, the 2018 comedy-drama What a Country!, in many ways returns to those themes.

The film is structured around three connected plots, each linked to Croatia’s traumatic past. The protagonist of the first story, played by Nikaš Butijer, is a Croatian Army general haunted by suicidal thoughts and visions of soldiers who died under his command during the war. The second story deals with a government minister, played by Kristijan Mikić, who visits a prison only to inexplicably lock himself in a special museum-like cell dedicated to Croatian patriots, including Tuđman, who were incarcerated there during Yugoslav rule. The third story involves an elderly man (played by Lazar Ristovski) who, with a group of friends, steals the coffin containing Tuđman’s remains. All these crises are handled by the Croatian government, led by the prime minister (played by Sebastian Cavazza) and president (played by Daniel Olbrychski), whose main mission is to prevent a potentially devastating scandal.

What a Country! won over some critics with its non-linear narrative structure and blurred lines between the protagonists’ dreams and reality, which was apparently enough for art film credentials. The structure seems to be this film’s strongest element, with stories connected in an ingenious and interesting way, not only by similar themes but also by protagonists who, each in his own way, face the reality of a country that is so different from the vision they fought and made sacrifices for many years ago. What a Country! also benefits from a very good cast, with actors from foreign countries like Slovenia, Serbia or Poland playing Croatian characters with great ease.

Unfortunately, the form itself is not enough to compensate for the lack of proper content. The sad realities of contemporary Croatia, which are supposed to trouble the protagonists, are never properly addressed or explained for a non-Croatian audience. Even worse is the lack of humour in a film that is supposed to be (and is advertised as) a comedy. There are some clever and interesting jokes, but they are often misplaced or their impact dulled by poor pacing. Some segments, including those featuring Serbian and Bosnian characters, look as if they were forcefully inserted into What a Country! for political reasons or in a weak attempt to broaden the film’s appeal outside Croatian borders. This film tries to ask some important and unpleasant questions about Croatia, but tries even harder not to find any meaningful or useful answer.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

(Note: The text in the original version is available here.)

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