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Reviews
Zona Zamfirova (2002)
This film is a true celebration of life
I admit I came across this film entirely by chance while changing the channels on my TV. I had absolutely no idea that this is in fact a film classic of Serbian cinema (I don't know how I have missed a film like this for such a long time). In my opinion the best test as to whether a film is good or bad is to simply give the viewers a remote control in their hands and see whether they still choose to continue watching it. Well "Zona Zamfirova" was one of those rare films that immediately grabbed my attention. Every minute of this film is saturated with the tender sense of beauty and passion of its creators. I watched it four days ago and since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it
The music of the film is mesmerizing! I like exactly this kind of Balkan music – with slightly modernistic interpretation of traditional folk tunes, which keeps the spirit and the beauty of the original prototype. The music is very emotional and matches and supports perfectly the vision of the film. The script and the directing are superb. The whole film is done in retro style. The actors deliberately overact a little bit – as a nod to the way the actors acted in theatre productions at the beginning of last century. Frankly speaking this is the best way to do this story. If you make the actors act in a totally realistic way, following the principles of method acting, the film would look flat and unconvincing. You have to keep the acting a little exaggerated in order to create this sense of fairy-tale-like story that has happened a long time ago. The camera work is in perfect harmony with this notion. The film is beautifully shot and is edited skillfully. The camera often zooms in on details from the everyday life of the people which gives richness to the background and to the story. All the scenes are kept fairly short and are pieced together in such a way that the story flows effortlessly and beautifully just like the music and the songs. The characters are well constructed and acted – they represent a glorious depiction of women that are full of feminine energy and men that are totally in touch with their masculine nature. This creates electric polarity between the characters and is very appealing to watch. The film overflows with joy and happiness. If you have watched the film of Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado About Nothing" you will certainly remember the bath scene. The public bath (the hamam) scene in "Zona Zamfirova", and in fact the whole film, is filled with exactly the same energy, joy and sex appeal. I did see some weak points in the film – mainly the occasional fake-looking sets and too clean and sleek costumes, but I did not find this a real drawback because the film does not pretend to be a fully realistic one. It rather gives the viewer a similar sense that you get in a theatre hall – you know that this cardboard castle on the stage is not a real castle and the man with the crown is not a real king, but you somehow ignore this fact and believe that this IS a castle and this IS a king. In conclusion I think that this is a superb film, done by a very skillful team of people all of whom have an eye, an ear and a heart for the beautiful and the meaningful. This film is a true celebration of life!