"Tko pjeva, zlo ne misli" (1970) by Krešimir Golik

Constantly on top 5 of every "the best of" list covering Croatian cinematography, this cute little nostalgic portrait of Zagreb between two world wars is surefire hit ever since its first screening almost half a century ago and something of Croatian national treasure - every time "Tko pjeva, zlo ne misli" (literary translated as "Who sings, can't think anything bad") is shown on TV, the audience is still thrilled to death and we all laugh affectionately like we see it for the first time.

Its not so much about the story - which is fairly simple, covering everyday life of quasi-bourgeois family - as much about ridiculously charming archetypes of characters that even when wrapped in caricature cellophane, still have enough of humanity that we recognise ourselves in them. From a little, innocent Perica Šafranek who is watching it all wide-eyed, to his sweetly eccentric parents and their friends, relatives and acquaintances, its all one warm cartoon of society where polite appearances are usually quickly dropped after few glasses of drink and shit hits the fan in the most unexpected moments.The script is a riot, with never ending jokes that gently poke fun at typical Zagreb's citizens and their pretentious ways but everybody is so lovable that humour never turns too nasty (when father decides to take revenge on his flirty wife, he visits a local prostitute - but is not sure what to do, so he just pays her and tells her to "do whatever she has to do", while neighbours gossips outside).

The joyous acting here completely cemented these actors in our consciousness so much that ever after we always associate them with these roles, no matter what else they did later in life: Relja Bašić is always going to be slick, pretentious "Mr.Fulir" and spinster "Aunt Mina" completely overshadowed anything else in career of wonderfully versatile Mia Oremović. I doubt that even Vida Jerman ever completely escaped her hooker role here.

Because movie is so strongly connected with local humour, Zagreb citizens and their recognisable habits, it never really worked with international audiences or foreign critics who usually found it cute but nothing special. I am not 100% sure does it actually work with audiences who are not close to this particular dialect either. It truly might be something that we recognise and cherish as our own mirror image. As for myself - and everyone I know - it works like magic and I can watch it 365 times and still enjoy it immensely, seeing it again and again.