"Svećenikova djeca" by Vinko Brešan (2013)

To all my countless readers, followers and fans I wish happy New Year 2014 and since I want to start on a positive note, let's talk about surprisingly good movie that comes from (another surprise) my own Croatia. Not long ago I wrote about Croatian movies being gloomy, overtly pretentious, plagued with over-acting and unconvincing dialogues, as opposed to mega-popular Serbian comedies that appeal to almost everybody. I shouldn't be too harsh on our own production since artists are trying to achieve something with a shoe-string budgets, however as long as directors don't understand that populist's approach works, they will not attract the audience - it simply works.

I love director Vinko Brešan - guy shows clear, true love for movies and his enthusiasm is contagious. There is a recognizable style in his movies (set in a small, isolated coastal places, with grotesque characters that are actually more realistic than you would think), quirky humour and visually they are beautiful to watch (with a loving nod towards charming French "Amélie" cartoon look). No wonder his earlier movies (" Kako je počeo rat na mom otoku" and "Maršal" got wide audience and this time with newest "Svećenikova djeca" he actually perfected this approach and made his best movie so far. It is a cute little satire about condom piercing Catholic priest who secretly join forces with newsagent and pharmacist in effort to raise dwindling island population with some hilarious, unexpected results. Characters are sweetly weird as they should be and Brešan effortlessly makes them immensely likable - if some typical local humour seems too simple for international audience (as some critics pointed, mainly nitpicking Croatians) just think about all those wonderful Czech or Spanish comedies ("La Belle Epoque") whose charm was recognized in spite - and because - this factor. For once, Croatian audience actually invaded cinemas and it was huge commercial success (even showed on international Film festivals) with predictable damnation from Church side that apparently nobody took seriously because movie became highest grossing Croatian movie ever. Bravo Vinko Brešan.