Sunday, February 22, 2015

Ritam zločina aka Rhythm of a Crime (1981)





Ritam zločina (Rhythm of a Crime, 1981) is a debut feature-length film made by Zoran Tadić on the basis of Pavao Pavličić’s novel “Good Spirit of Zagreb”. In a 1999 poll, critics voted it to be 5th best Croatian movie ever made.
The communist authorities didn’t forgive Tadić his involvement in 1968 student protests (and filming the riots), hence making it difficult for him to make his first feature-length movie. Ignored by colleagues and the system, Tadić decided to cunningly present his concept of making a no budget film for TV Zagreb, which was subsequently accepted. Hence he was finally able to show his film poetry at the age of 40 for the first time. He was given three of the finest Croatian actors at that time, 16mm camera and a house which was ownership of Hrvoje Turković. You can see Turković (on the left) and the director Tadić (on the right) heading the ball in the grill scene, which reflects the “friends-making-a-film” atmosphere. The movie quickly became one of the most beloved pieces among the film buffs and critics, but the wider audience is still unfamiliar with this gem to this day, both in the country of origin and abroad.
“Rhythm of a Crime” is a metaphysical thriller about everyday man that finds himself in unusual situation. The two lead actors were given their real names, hence the viewer feels that he knows these people from his neighborhood. It is a movie about laws of the human nature, set in a dark world of main actor’s house and its suburban area.

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