Film Archive

Men Don’t Cry

Official Selection - Competition 2017 / Muškarci ne plaču / Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany 2017

When, less than two decades since the war ended in Yugoslavia, a diverse group of veterans gathers at a remote mountain hotel to undergo days of therapy, it’s hard to expect absolute harmony. This brilliantly directed drama, about the ability to forgive others only after we have forgiven ourselves, presents the pinnacle of the Balkan male acting scene.

Synopsis

Although the armed conflicts of the 1990s visibly violated the land of the former Yugoslavia, they created the deepest wounds in the memory of each belligerent nation. There are as many different interpretations of that bleak past as there were countries affected. And so when a diverse group of veterans gathers at a remote mountain hotel less than two decades since the war ended to undergo days of therapy, it’s hard to expect absolute harmony. On the contrary, each unthinking word spoken or just a seemingly dirty look can suddenly ignite the dangerously explosive admixture. That’s because the former soldiers, obstinately holding on to their fundamental masculinity and their prejudices, refuse to expose the inhumanity of the events, whether perpetrated by them or by someone else. This brilliantly directed drama, about the ability to forgive others only after we have forgiven ourselves, presents the pinnacle of the Balkan male acting scene. In addition to the diehard pacifist therapist played by Sebastian Cavazza, the film features the excellent Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Leon Lučev, Izudin Bajrović, Boris Isaković, Ermin Bravo, Boris Ler, and Ivo Gregurević.

Martin Horyna

About the film

98 min / Color, DCP
World premiere
Director Alen Drljević / Screenplay Alen Drljević, Zoran Solomun / Dir. of Photography Erol Zubčević / Editor Vladimir Gojun / Art Director Mirna Ler / Producer Damir Ibrahimović, Jasmila Žbanić / Production Deblokada / Coproduction Iridium Film, Produkcija Živa, Manderley Films, This and That, CinePlanet / Cast Boris Isaković, Leon Lučev, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Sebastian Cavazza, Ermin Bravo, Boris Ler, Ivo Gregurević, Izudin Bajrović / Contact Deblokada

About the director

Alen Drljević (b. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia), member of the European Film Academy, graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo with the picture The Paycheck (Prva plata, 2005), nominated for a European Film Award for Best Short Film. He focused his first feature-length documentary Carnival (Karneval, 2006) on the dramatic events of the 1990s that marked the former Yugoslavia through a series of conflicts. Treating the illegal expulsion of Bosnian refugees from Montenegro, the movie screened in the debut competition at IDFA, the world’s largest doc fest. He worked on a variety of successful films as assistant director, including a trio from Jasmila Źbanić: Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (2006, Golden Bear at the Berlinale), On the Path (2010), and For Those Who Can Tell No Tales (2013). Men Don’t Cry is Drljević’s feature debut.