The Voice (2019)

Movie
Original title	The Voice
Country of production	Croatia , ; North Macedonia , ; Serbia
original language	Croatian
Publishing year	2019
length	80 minutes
Rod
Director	Ognjen Sviličić
script	Ognjen Sviličić, ; Marijana Verhoef
production	Damir Terešak , ; Tomi Salkovski , ; Nikolina Vucetic Zecevic
camera	Marinko Marinkic
cut	Nataša Pantic
occupation
	Franko Jakovcevic : Goran; Belma Kosutic : Danijela; Goran Bogdan : Uncle; Mia Petricevic : aunt; Klara Mucci : Tanja; Igor Kováč : Kreso; Karla Brbic : Sonja; Josip Lukic : Darko; Barbara Vickovic : Paula;

The Voice (also Bog u cipeli in Croatia ) is a film drama by Ognjen Sviličić , which celebrated its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in early October 2019 .

action

The 15-year-old Goran goes to a Catholic boarding school. He feels an aversion to the religious practices that the school imposes, such as praying the Our Father while eating together. He also loses his role as Joseph in the nativity play that they practice because he uses logic to argue against Mary's immaculate conception. In a community where everyone hears God, Goran is the only one who can't. He will not and cannot believe anything that is forced upon him. The students and teachers try to convert him without success, especially the devout headmistress Danijela. Even when everyone turns against him, he refuses to convert.

production

Directed by Ognjen Sviličić , who wrote the script together with Marijana Verhoef . Sviličić describes The Voice as a film about an individual's struggle against his environment. The surroundings, in this case the headmaster and the other children, have nothing personal against the protagonist, but they are increasingly pressuring him, which shows how the suppression mechanism works. In a way, it is also a film about Croatian society in general, which individuals somehow don't like, according to Sviličić's impression of the society in which he lives. The director continues: “ Eastern Europe escaped communism, but it seems that people in this part of the world still need someone to tell them what to do and what to think. The church saw its chance and just stepped in. [...] For this film, I was inspired by a society that does not allow individuality. Croatia is a good example of a country where the Catholic Church has a great influence. It is ubiquitous and particularly common in schools and hospitals. And people don't seem to have a problem with it. So my film is a protest against this conformism. ”The working title of the film was Bog u cipeli (Croatian for“ God in the shoe ”). According to the director, the change to glass (Croatian for “voice”) was made due to the film's religious context: “Everyone pretends to hear this voice. And this voice is actually a term that is mentioned very often in the Old and New Testaments. "

Sviličić found the children's actors in the film in various theater groups. He cast the leading roles of Goran and the headmistress Danijela with the young actors Franko Jakovcevic and Belma Salkunic . Goran Bogdan and Igor Kováč can also be seen in other roles . Karla Brbic plays the deputy headmistress Sonja.

The first screening of the film took place in early October 2019 as part of the Busan International Film Festival . At that time, a first trailer was released. In the same month it was shown at the Warsaw International Film Festival . The first screening in Germany took place in November 2019 at the Cottbus Film Festival . It is scheduled to hit Croatian cinemas on January 20, 2020.

reception

Reviews

Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter writes that Ognjen Svilicic's eerie portrait , set in Today, shows the strife between faith and reason and the struggle between heart and mind in religious and political indoctrination and sees the film as a warning against all forms of evangelism . Svilicic showed that he had a keen eye for the nuances of such manipulation. Although leading actor Franko Jakovcevic is sometimes a little too passive in the role of Goran, overall he shows a purposeful performance as a teenager when he tries to let the viewer understand his feelings: “Goran knows that he should fight, but he doesn't know just like."