When Father Was Away on Business (1985)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Tito's break-up with Stalin in 1948 marked the beginning of not only confusing, but also very dangerous years for many hard-core Yugoslav communists. A careless remark about the newspaper cartoon is enough for Mesha to join many arrested unfortunates. His family is now forced to cope with the situation and wait for his release from prison. The story is told from the perspective of Malik, his young son who believes the mother's story about father being "away on business".Now, the director (whose name I won't write because I fear I'll butcher it) is a great artist, and quite possibly the greatest storyteller out of Yugoslavia. Indeed, we do not think of them having a film industry and yet he has made many great works.But this is not my favorite. I love when he digs his toes into the surreal, and this film fails on that count. There is still a dash of humor here and there, but the film still runs a little too long and is too serious. Subject matter like this probably should be serious, but if his other work is any indication, it has a greater impact when it is not.

The background may be confusing to viewers unfamiliar with post-WWII Balkan history, but this was never (thankfully) meant to be a big-screen social studies lesson. The film is a sentimental (but never mawkish) drama of family life behind the Iron Curtain, as seen through the often glazed eyes of an eight-year old Yugoslav boy (prone to episodes of somnambulism) whose father is arrested for making a casual criticism of an editorial cartoon. Rather than taking potshots at easy political targets, director Emir Kusterica focuses instead on smaller, more intimate conflicts, recounting moments of family affection and bitterness with an understated humor transcending national and cultural borders.

"When Father was Away on Business" tells a complex story about life in Yugoslavia in the 50's. A man is convicted of what can only be described as an "inproper socialist attitude." However, his real crime is having an affair with the local hot socialist babe (a young Mira Furlan) who's attracted the attention of his brother-in-law, a local party official. The film outlines the impact of this man's arrest and imprisonment on his family, with special focus on his youngest son. The father is finally released, the family survives, but the scars on all sides will never heal. Noting some of the other reviews, there are details to this film that will likely be lost on the casual viewer. I believed the family was Jewish, only to learn from other reviews that they were actually Muslim. Also, awareness of Yugoslavia's strained relationship with the USSR is helpful. While I found the film interesting, the father's continued philandering made him a rather despicable figure. The young boy's retreat into sleep walking is probably a comment on what it took to survive in that society. The Father-in-Law's desire to act as if nothing had actually happened to his son-in-law is a hint here. The wife is the true martyr in this story, faithful to a cheating husband, willing to finally reach out to her brother who betrayed them both and trying desperately to give her boys a decent life.

I remember when I saw this movie back in 1986, the people I was with left the theater bored and puzzled because of my reaction to the movie. I can't explain quite well what was that fascinated me so much about the story. I think it was because you can breathe the reality of the story, I swear I was there with the little boy and the suffering of the family. I was there, understanding the complexity, but simplicity at the same time, of the people and history of that part of the world. It is a movie you have to watch to understand and let it take you where Kusturica wants to.