Iluzija
Encyclopedia
Mirage is a 2004
Macedonian
drama film
starring Vlado Jovanovski
, Mustafa Nadarević
, Nikola Đuričko, and Dejan Aćimović
, with Marko Kovačević debuting in its lead role. It was directed by Svetozar Ristovski, who co-wrote the film with Grace Lea Troje. Taking place in the city of Veles
, the film is a coming-of-age
story about a talented but abused schoolboy who is betrayed by illusory hopes of a better future and transformed by harsh circumstances into a criminal. It offers a grim depiction of post-independence Macedonia, portraying it as a site of violence and corruption.
Iluzija was Ristovski's feature
debut as a director. Following its release in Canada
and the United States
, it was well-received by most critics, who have generally praised the film for its uncompromising realism
and lead actor's performance. It won Best Feature Film during the 2005 Anchorage International Film Festival and was nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix during the 2004 Tokyo International Film Festival
.
during the Republic of Macedonia
's post-independence years. It tells the story of 13-year-old Marko Trifunovski (Marko Kovacevic), a talented but abused Macedonian
schoolboy whose harsh circumstances gradually transform him into a criminal. Two mentors offer Marko hopes of a better future, but they eventually fail him, leading to his catastrophic change. The illusory nature of these hopes is foreshadowed by the film's epigraph, an aphorism from Friedrich Nietzsche
's Human, All Too Human
: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man."
The film opens with Marko's difficult circumstances. Living in a run-down house beside a railway track, he suffers neglect from his family. They consist of his father Lazo (Vlado Jovanovski
), a drunkard addicted to bingo
and involved in a workers' strike; his cowed, unsupportive mother Angja (Elena Mosevska); and his promiscuous, abusive sister Fanny (Slavica Manaskova). At school, Marko suffers torment from bullies led by Levi (Martin Jovchevski), son of the Albanian
police chief Blashko (Dejan Acimovic
). To escape his troubles, Marko often takes refuge in a local train graveyard, playing chess to pass time.
A sensitive boy, Marko has a talent for composing poetry; a character half-jokingly refers to him as "Kočo Racin
II". A Bosnian
teacher of Macedonian
(Mustafa Nadarevic
) becomes Marko's mentor. He encourages Marko to take part in a French-sponsored poetry contest whose winners will represent Macedonia in Paris
, as well as to recite his entry during their school's upcoming Independence Day celebrations. He fills Marko with hopes of escaping his hometown through literary achievement to Paris, the "city of art".
However, Marko's efforts gain only indifference from his family and mockery from school bullies. Although a kind man, his teacher offers little help. He flees when he witnesses Levi's gang beating up Marko outside his own apartment, and his attempts to banish Levi from his classes fail because of Blashko's intervention. Furthermore, Fanny begins an affair with a black Kosovo Force soldier, providing Marko's racist bullies with more fuel.
Meanwhile, a scarred soldier (Nikola Djuricko) has taken up residence in the train graveyard. He plays chess with Marko, replacing a missing pawn with a bullet. Coincidentally, his name turns out to be Paris, the city of Marko's hopes. Paris becomes Marko's new mentor, teaching the boy to fend for himself: "Eat or be eaten." He promises to take Marko away from his hometown in the future. Under Paris' influence, Marko begins to drink, smoke, and steal. They commit several burglaries to fund their future journey, including one of a local Orthodox
church.
Marko is eventually caught peddling stolen perfumes. Taken into police custody, he is blackmailed by Blashko into becoming Levi's tutor. Levi in turn blackmails Marko into joining his gang for a school break-in, threatening him with his father's gun. Meanwhile, Marko's teacher subjects his poetry to severe criticism, devastating the boy. At his wits' end, Marko begs Paris to teach him how to shoot a gun. Dismissive at first, Paris finally agrees.
At night, Levi's gang and Marko break into school. They vandalize its main office, setting student records on fire and locking Marko inside the burning room. Scarred in the face by a broken bottle and recognized by the night watchman, Marko escapes and seeks refuge in the train graveyard. There, he discovers that Paris has abandoned him, leaving behind his pawn bullet.
Summoned by the principal to account for the vandalism, Marko refuses to denounce Levi's gang. He is condemned as a delinquent and expelled from school. Marko's teacher offers him no help, instead reporting him for alcohol and tobacco abuse. He replaces Marko with classmate Jasmina (Marija Sikalovska) for their Independence Day poetry recital, ghostwriting a patriotic poem for her.
Confronting Levi's gang, Marko takes away Levi's gun by force and loads it with Paris' bullet. Armed, he confronts his teacher during their school's Independence Day celebrations and denounces him for betraying his hopes. "There is no escape from the sewer," he concludes, shooting his teacher point-blank. As the boy staggers away, the film lingers on a close-up
of his teacher's corpse, closing to the strains of Erik Satie
's Gnossienne No. 3
.
intended the film to be a coming-of-age
story about a boy's transition from childhood to adolescence in contemporary Macedonia. As part of this coming-of-age process, the protagonist Marko spends much of the film searching for paternal figures such as Paris and his teacher to compensate for his father's inadequacies and become alternative role models for him. The mysterious Paris, in particular, functions as a wish-fulfilment "mirage" for Marko.
Ristovski also intended the film to portray social conditions in post-independence Macedonia, depicting it as a society plagued by anomie
, violence and corruption. He saw these conditions as part of a larger regional unease whose history included civil conflict in former Yugoslav territories
. Critics have similarly interpreted the film as an allegory of these social and regional concerns. In this context, Marko's transition from victimhood to criminality embodies the cycle of violence
endemic in such conditions, while his failed hopes serve as a cautionary warning against the dangers of empty idealism in such situations. One critic saw Paris' bullet in Marko's chess set (see figure on the right) as a metaphor for the threat of violence ever-present in their world.
The film contains much train imagery, depicting the city of Veles as a railway setting. According to Ristovski, this railway motif was incorporated into the film for visual and dramatic reasons. In the latter case, it embodies a predicament in which the railway stands for Macedonia's geographical status
as an important regional crossroads, but in which opportunities offered by this status are simultaneously hindered by extensive travel restrictions
during Macedonia's post-independence years. Ristovski saw Marko's story as a dramatization of that predicament: "[Many people] see these trains that are going up and down, but they can't get on any of those trains. They can't really get out of their place, their country, their town." One critic saw Marko's train graveyard (see figure on the left) as a metaphor for the hopelessness of his particular story: "there are tracks everywhere but no hope of transport."
Iluzija was Svetozar Ristovski's first attempt at directing a feature film; his prior work included the short film Hunter (2000) and the documentary Joy of Life (2001). According to a 2006 WKCR interview, his idea for the project came in the form of visual imagery for the film's final shot
(see figure on the right), which served as a focal point towards which he worked out the rest of the film's events.
Ristovski collaborated with Grace Lea Troje on the script. He credited his Canadian-born colleague with providing the film an "international" perspective and giving its story a more "universal" dimension, thus steering it away from parochialism
. According to Variety
, Andrei Tarkovsky
's Ivan's Childhood (1962) was an important influence on the co-writers.
The casting director for the film was Nikola Hejko, who was chosen primarily for his prior work with juvenile actors in movies such as Kolya
(1996) and The Great Water
(2004). Hejko's tasks for the project included finding actors for the film's juvenile roles with the help of his assistant Maja Mladenovska. According to Ristovski, this involved searching various Macedonian schools for potential actors, as well as months of test shooting and selection narrowing. The film's adult roles were largely filled by actors from Macedonia and other Balkan countries.
In various interviews, Ristovski cited several difficulties in producing the film. According to a 2005 interview, the project met with disapproval from the Macedonian government during pre-production
. Ristovski credited his cast and crew for their dedication towards the project despite this difficulty, likening their participation to "comradery in a battle". In his WKCR interview, Ristovski also cited lack of technical resources such as film equipment and film laboratory
services, which had to be sourced overseas.
Ristovski's production company, Small Moves, partnered with the Vienna
-based Synchro Film to produce the film. The project had a budget of about 600,000 euro
s, to which the Macedonian Ministry of Culture contributed 500,000 and Synchro Film about 10%. During production, the film's working title was Godini na nadez, known variously in English as Seasons of Hope and Years of Hope. The film's post-production
took place in Austria
.
The film was shot on location in Veles during May and June 2003. Veles had been Ristovski's birthplace and childhood home, and his familiarity with the place served as an advantage for finding filming locations. He also had prior working experience with the film's cinematographer, Vladimir Samoilovski. According to his WKCR interview, he and Samoilovski aimed for a visual style that combined both "aesthetic beauty" and documentary-style "grittiness" in the film's depiction of Veles.
handling theatrical and video releases in the United States. Its world premiere took place in Canada
on 11 September 2004 during the 29th Toronto International Film Festival
. In the United States
, it premiered on 13 March 2005 during the 12th South by Southwest Film Festival
. The film saw its first US theatrical release in New York City
during March 2006, followed by a DVD release in July.
Mirage is distributed by EastWest Filmdistribution located in Vienna (Austria). The film's European premiere took place on 21 November 2004 during the 45th Thessaloniki International Film Festival
. In Macedonia, it premiered on 11 March 2005 during the 8th Skopje Film Festival, with a theatrical release following in April.
, it earned an aggregate review score of 82%, deeming it "Fresh" based on 11 reviews, with an 86% "Cream of the Crop" designation based on 7 reviews. In Metacritic
, the film earned a generally favourable metascore of 61% based on 8 reviews.
In general, critics have praised the film for its uncompromising realism
. After its Toronto premiere, Variety
lauded the film as "a modest triumph of fearless acting and pointed social commentary". Its release in the United States drew similar praise. "Ristovski needs us to feel his nation's torment, and he succeeds," wrote the New York Daily News
. The Hollywood Reporter
found the film's treatment of Marko's story "unremittingly grim and powerful", while TV Guide
praised it for being "tense [and] gripping" as well as "starkly beautiful". The New York Times
faulted the film's story for being somewhat "underdeveloped", but concluded with guarded praise for its "unnerving window on a Balkan
country". The Village Voice
characterized the film's portrayal of youthful misery as a "wicked evocation of hopelessness".
However, the film also received a few negative reviews. The New York Post
summed up the film as "drab, despairing and pointless", while Slant Magazine
found its treatment of Marko's story "shrill" and "unreal", likening the film to "drag[ging] the corpse of Billy Elliot
t [sic] through sewer water". Following its European premiere, the Macedonian daily Utrinski Vesnik
praised the film for its realism and imagery, but concluded by criticizing its emphasis on misery for being one-sided.
Critics have singled out Marko Kovacevic in his lead role for praise. His performance was lauded as "remarkable" by Variety and "superb" by The Hollywood Reporter, while The Village Voice commended him for "channel[ing] gentle and ferocious with equal ease" in his depiction of the protagonist.
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Macedonian
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Vlado Jovanovski
Vlado Jovanovski
Vlado Jovanovski is Macedonian actor. His film credits include principal roles in prominent Macedonian films such as Bal-Can-Can and Mirage.-Filmography:* Time of the Comet * The Secret Book * Bal-Can-Can...
, Mustafa Nadarević
Mustafa Nadarevic
Mustafa Nadarević is a Bosnian actor and comedian. He has studied at the Academy of Drama and Arts in Zagreb....
, Nikola Đuričko, and Dejan Aćimović
Dejan Acimovic
Dejan Aćimović is an actor and director in Croatia. He was born in Čapljina, Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina. As an actor, his work included principal and supporting roles in numerous films, both within and outside Croatia...
, with Marko Kovačević debuting in its lead role. It was directed by Svetozar Ristovski, who co-wrote the film with Grace Lea Troje. Taking place in the city of Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
, the film is a coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
story about a talented but abused schoolboy who is betrayed by illusory hopes of a better future and transformed by harsh circumstances into a criminal. It offers a grim depiction of post-independence Macedonia, portraying it as a site of violence and corruption.
Iluzija was Ristovski's feature
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
debut as a director. Following its release in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was well-received by most critics, who have generally praised the film for its uncompromising realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
and lead actor's performance. It won Best Feature Film during the 2005 Anchorage International Film Festival and was nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix during the 2004 Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
.
Synopsis
The film takes place in VelesVeles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
during the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
's post-independence years. It tells the story of 13-year-old Marko Trifunovski (Marko Kovacevic), a talented but abused Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
schoolboy whose harsh circumstances gradually transform him into a criminal. Two mentors offer Marko hopes of a better future, but they eventually fail him, leading to his catastrophic change. The illusory nature of these hopes is foreshadowed by the film's epigraph, an aphorism from Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
's Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human
Human, All Too Human , subtitled A Book for Free Spirits , is a book by 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, originally published in 1878...
: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man."
The film opens with Marko's difficult circumstances. Living in a run-down house beside a railway track, he suffers neglect from his family. They consist of his father Lazo (Vlado Jovanovski
Vlado Jovanovski
Vlado Jovanovski is Macedonian actor. His film credits include principal roles in prominent Macedonian films such as Bal-Can-Can and Mirage.-Filmography:* Time of the Comet * The Secret Book * Bal-Can-Can...
), a drunkard addicted to bingo
Bingo card
Bingo cards are used to play various bingo games, including U.S. style bingo and UK style Housie. Cards are usually made of cardboard or non-reusable paper, but more and more bingo halls are beginning to use computerized cards. Bingo cards are printed in various styles with randomized bingo numbers...
and involved in a workers' strike; his cowed, unsupportive mother Angja (Elena Mosevska); and his promiscuous, abusive sister Fanny (Slavica Manaskova). At school, Marko suffers torment from bullies led by Levi (Martin Jovchevski), son of the Albanian
Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia
Albanians are the largest ethnic minority in the Republic of Macedonia. Of the 2,022,547 citizens of Macedonia, 509,083, or 25%, are Albanian according to the latest national census in 2002. The Albanian minority lives mostly in the north-western part of the country...
police chief Blashko (Dejan Acimovic
Dejan Acimovic
Dejan Aćimović is an actor and director in Croatia. He was born in Čapljina, Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina. As an actor, his work included principal and supporting roles in numerous films, both within and outside Croatia...
). To escape his troubles, Marko often takes refuge in a local train graveyard, playing chess to pass time.
A sensitive boy, Marko has a talent for composing poetry; a character half-jokingly refers to him as "Kočo Racin
Koco Racin
Kosta Apostolov Solev primarily known as Kočo Racin was a Macedonian revolutionary and poet who is considered a founder of modern Macedonian literature. His poem collection White Dawns is one of the most important masterpieces in the Macedonian modern literature...
II". A Bosnian
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
teacher of Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
(Mustafa Nadarevic
Mustafa Nadarevic
Mustafa Nadarević is a Bosnian actor and comedian. He has studied at the Academy of Drama and Arts in Zagreb....
) becomes Marko's mentor. He encourages Marko to take part in a French-sponsored poetry contest whose winners will represent Macedonia in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, as well as to recite his entry during their school's upcoming Independence Day celebrations. He fills Marko with hopes of escaping his hometown through literary achievement to Paris, the "city of art".
However, Marko's efforts gain only indifference from his family and mockery from school bullies. Although a kind man, his teacher offers little help. He flees when he witnesses Levi's gang beating up Marko outside his own apartment, and his attempts to banish Levi from his classes fail because of Blashko's intervention. Furthermore, Fanny begins an affair with a black Kosovo Force soldier, providing Marko's racist bullies with more fuel.
Meanwhile, a scarred soldier (Nikola Djuricko) has taken up residence in the train graveyard. He plays chess with Marko, replacing a missing pawn with a bullet. Coincidentally, his name turns out to be Paris, the city of Marko's hopes. Paris becomes Marko's new mentor, teaching the boy to fend for himself: "Eat or be eaten." He promises to take Marko away from his hometown in the future. Under Paris' influence, Marko begins to drink, smoke, and steal. They commit several burglaries to fund their future journey, including one of a local Orthodox
Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric or just Macedonian Orthodox Church is the body of Christians who are united under the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, exercising jurisdiction over Macedonian Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Macedonia and in exarchates in the Macedonian...
church.
Marko is eventually caught peddling stolen perfumes. Taken into police custody, he is blackmailed by Blashko into becoming Levi's tutor. Levi in turn blackmails Marko into joining his gang for a school break-in, threatening him with his father's gun. Meanwhile, Marko's teacher subjects his poetry to severe criticism, devastating the boy. At his wits' end, Marko begs Paris to teach him how to shoot a gun. Dismissive at first, Paris finally agrees.
At night, Levi's gang and Marko break into school. They vandalize its main office, setting student records on fire and locking Marko inside the burning room. Scarred in the face by a broken bottle and recognized by the night watchman, Marko escapes and seeks refuge in the train graveyard. There, he discovers that Paris has abandoned him, leaving behind his pawn bullet.
Summoned by the principal to account for the vandalism, Marko refuses to denounce Levi's gang. He is condemned as a delinquent and expelled from school. Marko's teacher offers him no help, instead reporting him for alcohol and tobacco abuse. He replaces Marko with classmate Jasmina (Marija Sikalovska) for their Independence Day poetry recital, ghostwriting a patriotic poem for her.
Confronting Levi's gang, Marko takes away Levi's gun by force and loads it with Paris' bullet. Armed, he confronts his teacher during their school's Independence Day celebrations and denounces him for betraying his hopes. "There is no escape from the sewer," he concludes, shooting his teacher point-blank. As the boy staggers away, the film lingers on a close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
of his teacher's corpse, closing to the strains of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's Gnossienne No. 3
Gnossienne
"Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century.-Characteristics:Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use...
.
Cast
In order given by the film's credits:- Vlado JovanovskiVlado JovanovskiVlado Jovanovski is Macedonian actor. His film credits include principal roles in prominent Macedonian films such as Bal-Can-Can and Mirage.-Filmography:* Time of the Comet * The Secret Book * Bal-Can-Can...
as Lazo. Marko's father. - Marko Kovacevic as Marko. This was Kovacevic's debut role as an actor. Svetozar Ristovski conceived of Marko's personality as a combination of outward fragility and inner toughness, choosing Kovacevic for his ability to project these dual qualities.
- Jordanco Cevrevski as Neighbor. He appears in the film's opening, quarreling with Lazo for disturbing the neighbourhood with his drunken antics.
- Elena Mosevska as Angja. Marko's mother.
- Slavica Manaskova as Fanny. Marko's sister.
- Mustafa NadarevicMustafa NadarevicMustafa Nadarević is a Bosnian actor and comedian. He has studied at the Academy of Drama and Arts in Zagreb....
as Bosnian Teacher. - Martin Jovchevski as Levi. Blashko's son.
- Nikola Hejko as Chernobyl. He appears as one of Lazo's cronies. Hejko was also casting director for the film.
- Marija Sikalovska as Jasmina.
- Dejan AcimovicDejan AcimovicDejan Aćimović is an actor and director in Croatia. He was born in Čapljina, Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina. As an actor, his work included principal and supporting roles in numerous films, both within and outside Croatia...
as Blashko. Levi's father. - Petar Mircevski as Policeman. He appears as one of Blashko's assistants.
- Andrijana Ristovska as Bingo Announcer. She appears in Lazo's bingo scenes. When a man takes over her task in one of these scenes, the bingo parlour responds with derision to her replacement.
- Nikola Djuricko as Paris. Ristovski intended the film to be ambiguous about Paris' existence, depicting him as a fictitious creation of Marko's escapist daydreams, but refusing to deny his existence by separating Marko's dreams and reality. Djuricko prepared for his role as Paris by weight-trainingWeight trainingWeight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
for a month and learning Macedonian. - Salaetin Bilal as Jeweller. He appears as a buyer for Marko's stolen jewellery.
- Tome Angelovski, Grace Lea Troje, Dejan Boskov as KFOR Soldiers. They appear as customers in a cafe where Marko is peddling stolen perfumes. Troje was also co-writer with Ristovski for the film, while Angelovski and Boskov were location managerLocation managerThe Location Manager is responsible for the finding and securing locations to be used and coordinating the logistics involved for the production to successfully complete its necessary work...
s. - Alexandar Georgiev as Night Watchman.
- Bajrush Mjaku as Principal.
Major themes
Svetozar RistovskiSvetozar Ristovski
Svetozar Ristovski is a Macedonian film director who now resides in Canada. Largely inspired by filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Robert Bresson and Michelangelo Antonioni, Ristovski developed a passion for filmmaking while living in...
intended the film to be a coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
story about a boy's transition from childhood to adolescence in contemporary Macedonia. As part of this coming-of-age process, the protagonist Marko spends much of the film searching for paternal figures such as Paris and his teacher to compensate for his father's inadequacies and become alternative role models for him. The mysterious Paris, in particular, functions as a wish-fulfilment "mirage" for Marko.
Anomie
Anomie is a term meaning "without Law" to describe a lack of social norms; "normlessness". It describes the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community ties, with fragmentation of social identity and rejection of self-regulatory values. It was popularized by French...
, violence and corruption. He saw these conditions as part of a larger regional unease whose history included civil conflict in former Yugoslav territories
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
. Critics have similarly interpreted the film as an allegory of these social and regional concerns. In this context, Marko's transition from victimhood to criminality embodies the cycle of violence
Cycle of violence
The term cycle of violence refers to repeated and dangerous acts of violence as a cyclical pattern, associated with high emotions and doctrines of retribution or revenge. The pattern, or cycle, repeats and can happen many times during a relationship...
endemic in such conditions, while his failed hopes serve as a cautionary warning against the dangers of empty idealism in such situations. One critic saw Paris' bullet in Marko's chess set (see figure on the right) as a metaphor for the threat of violence ever-present in their world.
Geography of the Republic of Macedonia
The Republic of Macedonia is a country situated in southeastern Europe with geographic coordinates , bordering Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. The country is part of the wider region of Macedonia and makes up most of Vardar Macedonia...
as an important regional crossroads, but in which opportunities offered by this status are simultaneously hindered by extensive travel restrictions
Macedonian passport
The Macedonian passport is issued to citizens of the Republic of Macedonia for the purpose of international travel. Responsibility for their issuance lies with the Ministry of the Interior. The validity of the passport is 5 years for persons under the age of 27, and 10 years for those 27 years...
during Macedonia's post-independence years. Ristovski saw Marko's story as a dramatization of that predicament: "[Many people] see these trains that are going up and down, but they can't get on any of those trains. They can't really get out of their place, their country, their town." One critic saw Marko's train graveyard (see figure on the left) as a metaphor for the hopelessness of his particular story: "there are tracks everywhere but no hope of transport."
Production
Shot (film)
In film, a shot is a continuous strip of motion picture film, created of a series of frames, that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Shots are generally filmed with a single camera and can be of any duration. A shot in production, defined by the beginning and end of a capturing process, is...
(see figure on the right), which served as a focal point towards which he worked out the rest of the film's events.
Ristovski collaborated with Grace Lea Troje on the script. He credited his Canadian-born colleague with providing the film an "international" perspective and giving its story a more "universal" dimension, thus steering it away from parochialism
Parochialism
Parochialism means being provincial, being narrow in scope, or considering only small sections of an issue. It may, particularly when used pejoratively, be contrasted to universalism....
. According to Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
's Ivan's Childhood (1962) was an important influence on the co-writers.
The casting director for the film was Nikola Hejko, who was chosen primarily for his prior work with juvenile actors in movies such as Kolya
Kolya
Kolya is a 1996 Czech film drama about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svěrák and stars his father Zdeněk Svěrák who also wrote the script from a story by Pavel Taussig.- Synopsis :...
(1996) and The Great Water
The Great Water
The Great Water is a 2004 Macedonian film starring Saso Kekenovski, Maja Stankovska, Mitko Apostolovski, Meto Jovanovski and Verica Nedeska. It was directed and written by Ivo Trajkov...
(2004). Hejko's tasks for the project included finding actors for the film's juvenile roles with the help of his assistant Maja Mladenovska. According to Ristovski, this involved searching various Macedonian schools for potential actors, as well as months of test shooting and selection narrowing. The film's adult roles were largely filled by actors from Macedonia and other Balkan countries.
In various interviews, Ristovski cited several difficulties in producing the film. According to a 2005 interview, the project met with disapproval from the Macedonian government during pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
. Ristovski credited his cast and crew for their dedication towards the project despite this difficulty, likening their participation to "comradery in a battle". In his WKCR interview, Ristovski also cited lack of technical resources such as film equipment and film laboratory
Film laboratory
A film laboratory is a commercial service enterprise and technical facility for the film industry where specialists develop, print, and conform film material for classical film production and distribution which is based on film material, such as negative and positive, black and white and color, on...
services, which had to be sourced overseas.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
-based Synchro Film to produce the film. The project had a budget of about 600,000 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s, to which the Macedonian Ministry of Culture contributed 500,000 and Synchro Film about 10%. During production, the film's working title was Godini na nadez, known variously in English as Seasons of Hope and Years of Hope. The film's post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
took place in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
The film was shot on location in Veles during May and June 2003. Veles had been Ristovski's birthplace and childhood home, and his familiarity with the place served as an advantage for finding filming locations. He also had prior working experience with the film's cinematographer, Vladimir Samoilovski. According to his WKCR interview, he and Samoilovski aimed for a visual style that combined both "aesthetic beauty" and documentary-style "grittiness" in the film's depiction of Veles.
Distribution
The film is distributed by Crescent Releasing, with Picture This! EntertainmentPicture This! Entertainment
Picture This! Entertainment was a home video distributor. They specialized in coming of age movies, often with gay or lesbian themes. Much of their catalogue came from Europe...
handling theatrical and video releases in the United States. Its world premiere took place in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on 11 September 2004 during the 29th Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it premiered on 13 March 2005 during the 12th South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
. The film saw its first US theatrical release in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
during March 2006, followed by a DVD release in July.
Mirage is distributed by EastWest Filmdistribution located in Vienna (Austria). The film's European premiere took place on 21 November 2004 during the 45th Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Thessaloniki International Film Festival
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has become one of the Balkans' primary showcases for the work of new and emerging filmmakers...
. In Macedonia, it premiered on 11 March 2005 during the 8th Skopje Film Festival, with a theatrical release following in April.
Box office
In the United States, the film opened in a single theatre on March 17, 2006 and grossed $1,511 during its one week of screening. Overall, the film has grossed $2,241 in the United States.Critical reception
The film was well-received by most film critics. On Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, it earned an aggregate review score of 82%, deeming it "Fresh" based on 11 reviews, with an 86% "Cream of the Crop" designation based on 7 reviews. In Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film earned a generally favourable metascore of 61% based on 8 reviews.
In general, critics have praised the film for its uncompromising realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
. After its Toronto premiere, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
lauded the film as "a modest triumph of fearless acting and pointed social commentary". Its release in the United States drew similar praise. "Ristovski needs us to feel his nation's torment, and he succeeds," wrote the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
. The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
found the film's treatment of Marko's story "unremittingly grim and powerful", while TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
praised it for being "tense [and] gripping" as well as "starkly beautiful". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
faulted the film's story for being somewhat "underdeveloped", but concluded with guarded praise for its "unnerving window on a Balkan
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
country". The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
characterized the film's portrayal of youthful misery as a "wicked evocation of hopelessness".
However, the film also received a few negative reviews. The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
summed up the film as "drab, despairing and pointless", while Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
found its treatment of Marko's story "shrill" and "unreal", likening the film to "drag[ging] the corpse of Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry. Set in the fictional town of "Everington" in the real County Durham, UK, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer, Gary Lewis as his coal miner father, Jamie Draven as Billy's older...
t [sic] through sewer water". Following its European premiere, the Macedonian daily Utrinski Vesnik
Utrinski vesnik (daily newspaper)
Utrinski vesnik is a daily newspaper in the Republic of Macedonia. The first issue of Utrinski vesnik was published on June 23, 1999. Its current editor is Erol Rizaov. It is published every day except Sunday....
praised the film for its realism and imagery, but concluded by criticizing its emphasis on misery for being one-sided.
Critics have singled out Marko Kovacevic in his lead role for praise. His performance was lauded as "remarkable" by Variety and "superb" by The Hollywood Reporter, while The Village Voice commended him for "channel[ing] gentle and ferocious with equal ease" in his depiction of the protagonist.
Awards
| Event | Award | Winner/Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 Tokyo International Film Festival Tokyo International Film Festival Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter... |
Tokyo Grand Prix | Svetozar Ristovski | Nominated |
| 2005 Anchorage International Film Festival | Best Feature | Svetozar Ristovski | Won |
| 2005 Zlín International Film Festival for Children and Youth | Best European Debut Film | Svetozar Ristovski | Won |
| 2006 Avanca Film Festival | Feature Film (Special Mention) | Svetozar Ristovski | Won |
| Best Actor (Special Mention) | Marko Kovacevic | Won | |
| Cinematography | Vladimir Samoilovski | Won |
Reviews
- Smith, KyleKyle SmithKyle Smith is an American critic, novelist and essayist. He is a staff film critic for the New York Post. His film reviewing style has been called "an exercise in hilarious hostility" by Entertainment Weekly....
(17 Mar 2006). "The pain in Spain creates familiar tears". New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
: New York Pulse, p. 58.