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DVD Review: DUSAN MAKAVEJEV: FREE RADICAL
ECLIPSE SERIES 18

Studio: The Criterion Collection
Year: 1965-1967-1968
Cast: Milena Dravic, Janez Vrhovec, Eva Ras, Stole Arandelovic, Boris Dvornik, Roko Cirkovic, Zivojin Pavlovic, Slobodan Aligrudic, Ruzica Sokic, Miodrag Andric, Dr. Aleksander Kostic, Dr. Zivojin Aleksic, Dragoljub Aleksic, Ana Milosavljevic, Vera Jovanovic-Segvic, Bratoljub Gligorijevic, Ivan Zivkovic, Pera Milosavljevic
Director: Dusan Makavejev
Release Date: October 13, 2009
Rating: Not Rated for (language, scenes of violence, nudity)
Run Time: 03h:47m:56s
Genre(s): foreign

"Here there are no lies. No tricks." - Ringmaster (uncredited actor) in Man is Not a Bird

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Stylish mid-1960s musings from Serb director Makavejev gets the Criterion treatment in this 3-disc set.

Movie Grade: B-

DVD Grade: B-

Celebrated Serbian director Dusan Makavejev plowed some experimental fields in the 1960s, melding documentary-style filmmaking with bleak feature-film storylines. Criterion has gathered up his first three projects, presented here as part of their Eclipse series.

Man is Not a Bird (Covek nije tica)
1965
01h:18m:49s

As Makavejev's feature film debut, this is a gritty saga focusing on life in a rough-and-tumble mining town in the Yugoslavian mountains, with the director weaving together a pair of storylines. It's not a pretty world that Makavejev paints, and in between the hard drinking, bar fights and towering smokestacks, it's muddy, dangerous existence, even as some sort of romance fills the air, this time between a female barber and a machinery repairmen who's new in town.

As is Makavejev's stylistic way, the primary arc of the film is often interrupted, here by a mysterious hypnotist and eventually by a truly bizarre "union circus", which features a man and woman with snakes in their mouths. Fans of the filmmaker should note that Milena Dravic, who would later take lead in Makavejev’s WR: Mysteries of the Organism, is the female lead here.

Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator (Ljubavni slucaj ili tragedija sluzbenice PTT)
1967
01h:08m:37s

This was Makavejev's second feature-length film, a tale of a doomed love affair between a young telephone operator and a middle-aged rodent expert. Or at least that what it seems to be on the surface. But that's far too simplistic to describe a Makavejev film, as he ladles the narrative with frank talk from a sexologist and a criminologist in between the relatively traditional primary storyline that quickly devolves into much darker directions.

The radiant Eva Ras (also seen in Man is Not a Bird) is Makavejev magnetic charmer here, delivering a measurably three-dimensional character that carries bits of gentle innocence and bold sexuality. The undercurrent of danger percolates throughout Love Affair, as Makavejev seems to unable to allow good things to happen to characters we like.

Innocence Unprotected (Nevinost bez zastite)
1968
01h:19m:46s

The only color film of this 3-disc set (though the film does feature some black-and-white segments), Innocence Unprotected is also probably Makavejev's most curious title. In all honesty, this would be the real reason to check this set out, as it is a strikingly bleak yet completely fascinating revisitation of a "lost" film. Makavejev referred to it as "a new production of a good old film", and it centers on revisiting an historic 1942 film—actually the first Serb production with dialogue—entitled Innocence Unprotected, directed by Dragoljub Aleksic.

It seems that back in the 40s Aleksic was branded a fascist, and so his film was buried politically, but in 1968 Makavejev tracked down Aleksic (as well as assorted crew members) to talk about that film and the time, as well as present portions of the original film, some of which has now been tweaked with shades of hand-tinted blue and green.

Fans of the Eclipse series will no doubt jump on this sight unseen, as will most Criterion aficionados. With the exception of Innocence Unprotected, I'm not quite sold on Makavejev myself, so I suppose for others this collection may also not carry the same sense of artistic importance.

IMAGE/AUDIO
All three titles are presented in their original aspect ratios; two of the films (Man is Not a Bird, Love Affair) are presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen, while the other (Innocence Unprotected) is delivered in 1.33:1. It doesn't appear any major restorative work was, as the prints are still peppered with periodic imperfections, though still are in above bar condition, given their age and background.

Audio is provided satisfactorily in the original Serb-Croation, presented in 1.0 mono. English subs are available, as well.

EXTRAS
This 3-disc set packaging features a slipcover housing three clear plastic Scanavo cases, with one title per disc. As with most of the Eclipse series, supplements are limited to scholarly liner notes, here provided by Lorraine Mortimer (Man is Not a Bird) and Michael Koresky (Love Affair, Innocence Unprotected). Mortimer's text is provided on a foldout insert, while Koresky's is written on the backside of the cover sheet so that it is visible when the case is opened.

Posted by: Rich Rosell - October 12, 2009, 5:58 am - DVD Review
Keywords: foreign, dusan makavejev, working class