Gori vatra (2003)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Pjer Zalica

Writer:

Pjer Zalica (writer)

Release Date:

28 April 2004 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Two years after the Bosnian civil war, a town that is slowly rebuilding itself must whip together a democracy when it's announced the U.S. President Bill Clinton might be paying a visit.

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Enis Beslagic	...	Faruk
Bogdan Diklic	...	Zaim
Sasa Petrovic	...	Husnija
Izudin Bajrovic	...	Mugdim
Jasna Zalica	...	Hitka
Senad Basic	...	Velija
Admir Glamocak	...	Hamdo
Emir Hadzihafizbegovic	...	Stanko
Fedja Stukan	...	Adnan
Gordana Boban	...	Prevodilica
Aleksandar Seksan	...	Pic
Hubert Kramar	...	Supervizor
Almir Cehajic	...	Osman (as Almir Cehajic-Batko)
Ana Vilenica	...	Azra
Amra Kapidzic	...	Amra
Zivorad Mihajlovic	...	Cenja
Sead Pandur	...	Uco
Mirza Tanovic	...	Krojac
Ana Stefanovic	...	Revizor 1
Vanja Ejdus	...	Revizor 2
Anita Kajasa	...	Magdalena
Sanela Pepeljak	...	Olga
Alban Ukaj	...	Glavar
Gradimir Gojer	...	Obrad
Fikret Delic	...	Gugo
Elma Ahmetovic	...	Selma
Alen Muratovic	...	Senta
Sabrija Muhic	...	Raza
Jasna Diklic	...	Ljuta Zena
Muharem Malagic	...	Dedo - povratnik
Nevzeta Musabegovic	...	Komsinica
Ismar Zalica	...	Djecak 1
Ivor Herovic	...	Djecak 2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sasa Losic	...	Piano Player in the bar

Directed by
Pjer Zalica

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pjer Zalica		writer

Produced by
Jasmin Durakovic	....	co-producer
Ademir Kenovic	....	producer
Thierry Lenouvel	....	associate producer
Zijad Mehic	....	producer
Josef Platt	....	executive producer
Branko Simunac	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Sasa Losic

Cinematography by
Mirsad Herovic

Film Editing by
Almir Kenovic

Production Design by
Kemal Hrustanovic

Costume Design by
Amela Vilic

Makeup Department
Jolanda Buhin	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Branko Simunac	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Slobodan Golubovic-Leman	....	first assistant director (as Slobodan Leman)
Elmir Jukic	....	assistant director
Mirza Pasic	....	assistant director

Art Department
Ragib Salam	....	property buyer
Haris Sarvan	....	property master

Sound Department
Samir Foco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Samir Foco	....	supervising sound editor
Marton Jankov-Tomica	....	sound recordist
Ivana Jeftic	....	assistant sound effects editor
Srdjan Kurpjel	....	sound supervisor
Nemanja Novicic	....	boom operator
Zoran Prodanovic	....	boom operator
Burak Topalakci	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Jamal M'Barek	....	pyrotechnician (as Zamal M'Barak)

Visual Effects by
Pascal Charpentier	....	visual effects supervisor
Thierry Noblet	....	digital artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Aydogan Yilmaz	....	focus puller
Cihan Yilmaz	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Azra Mehic	....	assistant costume designer

Other crew
Elma Begtasevic	....	production secretary
Belma Buljina	....	production financing
Lana Likic	....	production coordinator
Nidzara Mehic	....	script supervisor
Claire Viroulaud	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Refresh Production
• Novotny & Novotny Filmproduktion GmbH (co-production)
• Ciné-Sud Promotion
• Istanbul Film
• Novotny & Novotny Filmproduktion GmbH
• RTV Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Radio-televizije Federacije BiH

Distributors

• Les Films du Safran (France) (theatrical)
• Pyramide Distribution (worldwide)
• Global Film Initiative (USA)
• trigon-film (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD) (subtitled)

Special Effects

• Cortosys

Other Companies

• Mind the Sound  sound post-production
• Orion  lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Fuse (Europe: English title) (International: English title)
Au feu! (France)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Bosnia and Herzegovina | Austria | Turkey | France

Language:

Serbo-Croatian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Italy:T

Company:

Refresh Production

Another good film portraying the implosion of Yugoslavia in the 90s

In the two years since the official end of the Bosnian "civil" war in late 1995, wartime conditions fester on in the little Muslim town where this film is set. Lack of goods breeds a robust black market. Lack of money means lousy health care and schools. Vengeful rage between Muslim villagers and Serbs from an adjacent town simmers close to the surface daily. Land mines continue to kill and maim. A broken old man carries on conversations with the dead son who visits him regularly. And then intriguing news arrives: U.S. President Bill Clinton is coming to visit.

The mayor immediately grasps the possibilities here: putting his town on the map, attracting tourists and fresh capital. He sets about hiding or destroying any evidence of malfeasance and unrest. Even the firemen of the town are forced to buddy up to their Serb counterparts nearby, in a show of solidarity and mended fences. Serbs are exhorted to spend a day in the town, pretending to have returned permanently. On the day of Clinton's visit, the mayor even finds a gaudy necktie to wear that is covered with dollar signs ($).

The American song rehearsed by school kids for the reception is "House of the Rising Sun," quite apt in a place where the flesh trade is an important aspect of the local economy. Myriad such ironies, along with dark humor, corruption, Romany musical riffs, and violence barely contained - in short, all the usual ingredients of films from the fragmented states of the former Yugoslavia - are on display here.

The story, written by the director, Mr. Zalica, is first rate, weaving individual dramas affecting several characters within the larger subtext, the seriously blighted condition that continues to typify Bosnia. The director, who teaches his craft in Sarajevo, evokes excellent performances from nearly every actor here, especially Bagdan Diklic, who plays Zaim, the aging former police chief; Izudin Bajrovic as Mugdim, the powerful, duplicitous fellow who replaced Zaim as Chief; Admir Glamocak as Hamdo, the skinny, cynical fireman; and Senad Basic as Velija, kingpin of illicit trade in the area.

Things go seriously amiss at the end, though all is not lost. As Elvis Mitchell so nicely put it, writing in the New York Times, "The title of (this) incident-filled but relaxed and oddly courtly comedy-drama isn't exactly misleading. Watching the story unfold is akin to watching a ridiculously extended fuse burn for so long that you almost forget there's a bomb at the end."

I would rank this film only a little lower on my "Yugoslavian implosion" favorites list than Emir Kusturica's stunning and bitterly funny hit film, "Underground." "Fuse" is currently part of the touring Global Lens 2005 series. This film deserves wider commercial distribution in the U.S. (In Bosnian, or Serbo-Croatian if you prefer, & English). My rating: 7.5/10 (low B+). (Seen on 04/17/05). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.