A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident: The Life and Work of Aleksandar Petrovic

384 Pages·2013·8.84 MB·English

by  Vlastimir Sudar

Vlastimir Sudar’s book is the most ambitious and
comprehensive attempt thus far to bring into bold
S
A PORTRAIT relief Aleksandar Petrović’s role as a world class U V I C
film artist, political dissident, and a major figure D R O
T
OF THE ARTIST in bringing about the Yugoslav new film or black A R P E
film period of the 1960s and early 70s. Using an R D A
N
A
innovative and updated version of auteur theory as S
AS A POLITICAL E K
a major strategy of film analysis Sudar discovers A L
and persuasively articulates four basic thematic A K O F
R
DISSIDENT political paradigms (both implicit and explicit) that P W O
D
cut across all of Petrović’s major films. His analysis O A N
E
issc foupreth oefr r deeleevpaennte sdo ubryc ae rmeamtaerrkiaalbs—le hvaisrtioertiyc aaln, d RT H E LIF
T
biographical, cultural, and political—that he R
critically brings to bear to substantiate and provide A
I
a context for his film analysis. The paradigmatic
T
THE LIFE AND WORK OF themes that Sudar teases out of Petrović’s films
O
are themes as relevant today as they were then.
ALEKSANDAR PETROVIC F
They offer intriguing opportunities for comparative
T A PORTRAIT
VLASTIMIR SUDAR studies of Petrović’s films with those of politically
H
inspired film directors from other Eastern European
E
countries at the time as well as more recent
In the liberal West as in socialist Yugoslavia, filmmakers who attempt to deal with inter-ethnic A OF THE ARTIST
R
the films of Aleksandar Petrović dramatize how relationships, societal marginalization and anti-
T
enforced dogmatism can corrode any political dogmatism in religion and politics.
I
system. A case study of the oft-overlooked Daniel J. Goulding, Emeritus Professor, Oberlin S AS A POLITICAL
College T
Yugoslav director’s colourful and eventful career,

A
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident
Vlastimir Sudar’s study of the films of the late S
DISSIDENT
explores how Petrović developed specific political Serbian film director Aleksandar Petrović is a
A
and social themes in his films. A response to the valuable addition to the still relatively small amount
P
political vagaries of his time, these anti-dogmatic of information in English about this award-winning
O
views were later to become a trademark of his film maker’s career and his place as a prominent
L
figure, both in the history of the cinema of the
work. Although interest in socialist Yugoslavia I
former Yugoslavia and in international cinema T
and its legacy has risen steadily since the 1990s, I
of the 1960s and 70s. Though Sudar rightly C
the history of Yugoslav cinema has been scarcely
concentrates on Petrović’s films of this period, he A
covered, and this book marks a fresh contribution provides detailed information about the director’s L
to a burgeoning area of interest. life and overall career, together with careful analysis D
of his major films, both for their aesthetic value I
Vlastimir Sudar teaches film history and theory at S
and their, often controversial, social and political
the University of the Arts London content, which he characterises as consistently S
I
“anti-dogmatic”. His book should take its place D
beside Daniel Goulding’s Liberated Cinema as an E
indispensable contribution to the history of East N
and Central European cinema. T
Graham Petrie, Emeritus Professor,
McMaster University
VLASTIMIR SUDAR
intellect | www.intellectbooks.com
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd ii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd iiii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident:
The Life and Work of Aleksandar Petrovic´
Vlastimir Sudar
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd iiiiii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
First published in the UK in 2013 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2013 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2013 Vlastimir Sudar
Portraits of young Aleksandar Petrovi´c on the front cover by Bogoljub
Boba Jovanovi´c, used by kind permission of the artist.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Cover images: Bogoljub Boba Jovanovi´c
Cover designer: Holly Rose
Production manager: Jelena Stanovnik
Copy-editor: Michael Eckhardt
Typesetting: Planman Technologies
ISBN 978-1-84150-545-9
Printer Bell & Bain, UK
With thanks to
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd iivv 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
to my mother and father, in memory of a time and place that we have lost…
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd vv 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd vvii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
Table of Contents
Figures xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Notes on Language xv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Beginnings 13
1. 1. The State 15
1. 1. 1. Early Cinema in Serbia and Yugoslavia 15
1. 1. 2. Socialist Yugoslavia and the Creation of a National Film Industry 18
1. 2. The Artist 20
1. 2. 1. Early Years 20
1. 2. 2. The Years of War 21
1. 2. 3. The Young Filmmaker 25
1. 3. The State and the Artist 28
1. 3. 1. The Belgrade Circle of Critics 29
1. 3. 2. The First Love – Communism 31
1. 3. 3. New Wave 33
Chapter 2: Shoulder to Shoulder 43
2. 1. An Invitation from Vicko Raspor 46
2. 1. 1. Shoulder to Shoulder 47
2. 1. 2. Flight over the Swamp 49
2. 2. Raspor and Petrovi´c: Rise and Fall 52
2. 2. 1. Petar Dobrovi´c 53
2. 2. 2. The Only Exit 54
2. 3. Reclaiming the Experience 57
2. 3. 1. The Roads 57
2. 3. 2. The War on War 60
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd vviiii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident
2. 4. First Films, First Problems 62
2. 4. 1. Two 62
2. 4. 2. Days – the Premise 66
2. 4. 3. Days – the Confl ict 69
Chapter 3: Art as an Inquiry 81
3. 1. Two New Documentaries 85
3. 1. 1. Exposing the “Invisible” 85
3. 1. 2. The Record on the “Invisible” 86
3. 1. 3. The Legacy of Luis Buñuel 89
3. 1. 4. “The Invisibles” Assembling 90
3. 2. Three: Things “Invisible” in the War 95
3. 2. 1. The Atmosphere at Avala Film 95
3. 2. 2. The War Themes and the Prose of Antonije Isakovi´c 97
3. 2. 3. Adapting Isakovi´c 98
3. 2. 4. The Film Three 99
3. 2. 5. Personal History Against the Offi cial Myth 101
3. 2. 6. Three – the Reception 110
Chapter 4: The Artist as a Feather Collector 119
4. 1. The New Direction 122
4. 1. 1. Petrovi´c Focuses on the “Invisible” 122
4. 1. 2. I Even Met Happy Gypsies or The Feather Collectors 127
4. 2. International Recognition 128
4. 2. 1. While Travelling with the Gypsies 128
4. 2. 2. Theorising the Representations of Gypsies 138
4. 2. 3. The Reception, Success and Side Eff ects 144
Chapter 5: The Artist as an Agent Provocateur 157
5. 1. The Benefi ts of International Recognition 161
5. 1. 1. Improvisations and Bertolt Brecht 163
5. 1. 2. It Rains in My Village, or It Will Be the End of the World Soon 167
5. 1. 3. Charting the Decline, Anticipating the Downfall 168
5. 2. Limelight as Light as Feathers 177
5. 2. 1. The Reception of the Village 179
5. 2. 2. Black Film 182
Chapter 6: The Artist as Master 199
6. 1. Aleksandar Petrovi´c as the Master 204
6. 1. 1. Petrovi´c and the Whirlpool of the Decentralisation Debate 204
6. 1. 2. Petrovi´c, Literary Adaptations and his New Film 206
6. 1. 3. Bulgakov and Petrovi´c on Art under Dogmatic Totalitarianism 209
viii
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd vviiiiii 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM
Table of Contents
6. 1. 4. The Master and Margarita – The Film 215
6. 1. 5. Petrovi´c’s Margarita and the Master 216
6. 1. 6. The Reception of the Master 224
6. 2. The Master and his Student 228
6. 2. 1. Against the Devil with Plastic Jesus 229
6. 2. 2. Without Reconciliation 233
Chapter 7: The Artist in Exile 247
7. 1. Exile 250
7. 1. 1. Pornography, or Living as an Artist in the West 252
7. 1. 2. Petrovi´c and Heinrich Böll 255
7. 1. 3. Group Portrait with Lady – The Film 258
7. 1. 4. Petrovi´c’s Portrait of Germany 259
7. 1. 5. Style and Reception of the Portrait 268
Chapter 8: The Artist, Migrations, and the Last Days 279
8. 1. The Return 283
8. 1. 1. Screenplays and the Theatre 285
8. 2. Migrations and the Slow Processes of Rehabilitation 288
8. 2. 1. Petrovi´c and Miloš Crnjanski 288
8. 2. 2. Rehabilitation without Reconciliation 291
8. 2. 3. Seobe or Migrations – The Film 293
8. 2. 4. Petrovi´c’s Migrations 294
8. 3. The Lessons of Migrations and the Last Days 305
8. 3. 1. A Few Notes on Petrovi´c’s Adaptations 305
8. 3. 2. Migrations Thus Far 307
8. 3. 3. Last Days 308
Conclusion 319
Filmography 329
Bibliography 339
Index 357
ix
0055445599__FFMM..iinndddd iixx 1111//2299//1122 22::3311::2222 PPMM