Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) - Emir Kusturica

Emir Kusturica is currently one of the few filmmakers beyond the common denominator, this is, filmmakers producing a cinema that is not cinema, it is not art, but business, consumption trade. Kusturica is a filmmaker who, like all great directors, has always had a well-defined style, from the beginning, from the first film, which on this occasion I comment. The Balkan director concrete his first feature film, for which adopts many of the edges that will frame its cinema forever, that is, among other things, the reality of his nation, which was Yugoslavia in their infant years, which crumbled into pieces, fragmenting in the countries of the Balkans today. That turbulent environment is transferred to the citizens, as the film's protagonist, a teenager with the growing juvenile delinquency in Sarajevo, following the lead of the adults in the village, and forming a rock-folk band to use his time well, while hiding at home a beautiful young prostitute that titles the film. As stated, the picture already contains many of the features and guidelines that will guide the creations of Kusturica, the folklore of their land, the simplicity of life in an area of complicated history and future, and it is indeed pleasing to note and recognize many topics and signals of the filmmaker in this, his initial film work.

                  

Kusturica begins his story exposing the main core soon, unadorned, with no audiovisual ornaments, when we see a local man talking about rising juvenile crime in the city of Sarajevo; also he exposes his idea of redirecting youth, for fear of such crime, to other trails, and proposes that young music bands should be created. Of course, that's the socioeconomic and political core, from a certain point of view, is almost a pretext, a framework which presents a different story, as or more important than the first. Sarajevo is torn into indecision, teetering, it's a mess from many points of view but Kusturica is able to merge this alarming reality with the experiences of teenager Dino (Slavko Stimac), impregnated throughout with the particular almost festive Balkan filmmaker tone, also a certain tenderness embodied in the young fellow. A tenderness that will disappear, as always, with growth, with maturity, with the loss of innocence, symbolized by the death of the pet rabbit, the animal tender presence we almost always see in the work of Kusturica, illustrated this time in the rabbit. Music is vital in the film, a certain vernacular, light and cheerful tone that always helps shape characteristics of the work of Bosnian director, a folk aura hovers over much of the film, and it is quite significant that the picture central song, is an Italian theme that flows again and again during the film, either in recording, either performed by the youthful band.

That fact, latin music that floods lands of mostly-Muslim orientation is shaping one of the many contrasts that contains the picture. East and West, Christianity and Islam living together and competing at a time, as in the historical context of the film, with Yugoslavia disintegrating political, religious and territorially, the emerging Balkan countries began to form and take sides politically, with Communist ideas from the West, and religiously, some adopting Western Christianity, others maintaining the religion of Allah. Kusturica fits us in turbulent times in every way, but all those contrasts, that insecurity and uncertainty, reach most top in the protagonist, Dino, the teenager who is torn between many choices, with the insecurities and anxieties typical of his age, he becomes the leading thread of the film, the lens through which we see everything. The boy who is torn in many fields, not knowing whether to adopt the so fervently-defended-by-his-father foreign communism, or the metaphysical world of hypnosis, a symbolic nod likely to be rooted in personal experiences of the filmmaker; not knowing whether to enter the music band, or follow the route of the majority of his age fellows, juvenile delinquency. Dino is thus the receptacle, the source where all the uncertainties, dilemmas and concerns are met, the chosen character is perfect, an adolescent awakening in every way, sexual and intellectually, fascinated by Dolly Bell (Ljiljana Blagojevic), the prostitute he hid and fell in love with.

Pessimism looms in this beautiful, sordid world, rain, symbolic element, flows more than once, the rain that falls and makes someone wonder if ever the sun will rise as God intended, to which the marxist father replied coldly "never"; rains on the communist father, and never the sun rises, the filmmaker’s conception is in this way printed, the Communists and their austerity, misery seriocomically portrayed, that has its main bastion in the father. It is configured the drama, tragedy and comedy merge, sordidness and beauty of love meet, the conjunction, that dissimilar union works so well when the director on duty knows his stuff, and, boy, Kusturica is one of them. We find another contrast, one so-many-times-used in movies, romance, love, falling in love with a prostitute. In this case, a young sexually debutante falls in love for a beautiful girl who sells her body, beautiful prostitute tenderly by the inexperienced individual, while again the raindrops fall, generating parallel, sad tears that also fall, while his beloved Dolly Bell is raped by her pimp. Finally we do not know for sure what about Dolly Bell, the father dies and the family leaves the village, while playing a sad song of longing by Dino; many, or all dualities and uncertainties to which Dino faced were not resolved, we simply witnessed an episode in his life, the episode of a young man during the end of Yugoslavia.

On the picture Italy becomes the nexus between one world and another, the Balkan and the Mediterranean world are linked in more ways than one on it, as if Italy was about the exhaust point for Dino, and by extension, for Kusturica: the music that frames the film, the prostitutes that are sent to Milan. It is quite significant that amid the rich outline of his Sarajevo, Kusturica in his story shows us the main figure embodying Marxism, the father, passing away, agonizing and dying, thus showing us Emir’s affiliations or inclinations. Music and hypnotism, representing and symbolizing the desire to flee, the desire to escape crime and communism respectively, leaving behind a chaotic, desperate, miserable situation, that very likely overwhelmed Kusturica, possessing a keen sense of observation to its surroundings, the director subtly glides us, while with effectiveness, with metaphors, his thought, his desire, embodied in the protagonist, Dino; Kustruica, which probably nurtured his picture with his own private and personal experiences, is in this way slipping his views, his feelings. The final image is also significant, after retiring the family, we see a Sarajevo under construction, buildings that are being built, some big facilitiees are taking shape, Yugoslavia has disappeared, that land in part is now Bosnia, confusion is left behind, at least in part, as the situation of the adolescent protagonist.

As stated, it is remarkable how from this, his first feature, it feels one so clearly-identifiable-to-his-authorship movie-work, near-the-village tone of manners, its habits and activities, its inhabitants, music and its people, the human fauna of his native land, and his manners, documented with quaint simplicity. Kusturica knows how to add to this framework his very particular and tasty humor, with subtle but certain and efficient doses of humor, the warm touch of hilarious details as the father berating, grumbling and imposing his authority, then accidentally putting his foot in a bowl with water, or a young man trying to hypnotize a light young villager, among other hilarious moments. The camera of the director is properly released when determined by the narrative, and while it is mostly static, unfolds with acceptable and parsimonious ease in the few moments that slides in the environments to follow the actions of the protagonists, the camera documents what we see, as we see, much like as in his short film Guernica (1978). The director was just starting his career with this film, of course, and this technical aspect is something that was in its infancy, it is something that is perceived somewhat hesitant, embryonic still the director, but his feature film debut is already perfectly consistent with entire oeuvre which would later produce, a work in wich he certainly is immersed to the point of being also the script co-writer of the film, along with Abdulah Sidran.

It also begins to show Kusturica, although still briefly, his skills as a creator of images, such as visual poet, using visual assets in his films, showing the element of water more than once, showing the fruits during the tender carnal acts of protagonists. It is a facet in which the director was still germinating, then we should see the grandeur of its dominance in this area as a filmmaker. Emir Kusturica is definitely one of the references for today’s filmmakers, a director with a well-defined and outlined style, and solid from the beginning, an artist who always knew what he wanted, is very attractive to appreciate his debut work knowing what he would later be able to perform, masterpieces by the likes of Underground (1995) or Black Cat, White Cat (1998), where many of the aspects mentioned reach more definite forms, perhaps exaggerated and caricatured in some cases. We observe a picture that obtained certainly deserved recognitions, we witnessed the birth of a great artist, then afterwards would ripen to be one of the best directors of contemporary cinema. The bad boy of Balkans was born, is significant to see that the film contains a lot of the life of the filmmaker itself, is a nice, simple movie, freshed with the youth protagonists and their simple but efficient performances, a hymn that speaks of the Inside of its creator, beautiful film that is chosen to open this project, this nascent cinephile site.