Knowing certain arcane facts that most people don’t can be double-edged sword. It can make you appreciate certain films more and it could completely ruin films other people enjoy. For the author of this review Is It Clear, My Friend?, 2000 Croatian prison drama written and directed by Dejan Aćimović, belongs to the latter category.
The plot, narrated by former prisoner Emil Imamović (played by Milivoj Beader), begins in May 1981, in a time when Croatia used to be part of Communist Yugoslavia. The protagonist is Martin Pavlović (played by Milan Pleština), recently promoted state company manager, who gets in a brawl and kills a man. He is sentenced to twelve years of prison, which is to serve in infamous penitentiary (modelled after real-life Stara Gradiška). There he finds all sorts of people who ended behind bars either for serious or petty crimes or for being opposed to Communist regime. They are subjected to harsh treatment by guards led by sadistic Branko (played by Aćimović), but they also find ways to make their lives slightly tolerable through bribery, black market, while some try to escape. As years go by political crisis that would tear Yugoslavia apart begins to reflect within prison walls and prisoners, sensing freedom, stage ill-fated revolt.
Is It Clear, My Friend? is one of the more interesting pieces of Croatian cinema of its time. It represented an attempt of a Hollywood-like genre film, something usually snobbish Croatian film makers and their state sponsors abhorred. Dejan Aćimović, prolific character actor, managed to secure funds for his production but, like so many Croatian film makers in the first years of country’s independence, abstained from having potentially problematic crime-related content set in present day and instead took the safe route of setting the film in past Communist era. The result is somewhat strange combination of typical prison film with all cliches (drugs, gangs, violence, corruption) and political drama that would probably be incomprehensible to viewers unfamiliar with history of Croatia and Yugoslavia. Aćimović nevertheless does reasonable job as director, but his efforts are ruined with small detail near the beginning. During the criminal trial scene the dialogue quotes wrong section of Criminal Code of Socialist Republic of Croatia. This is something Aćimović and audience wouldn’t pay attention to, but those who, like the author of this review, went to law school, might find very objectionable. And, to add insult to injury, judge in the scene is played by Branko Šerić, former real life judge and one of the most famous criminal defence attorneys in Croatia. After this scene it becomes impossible to suspend the disbelief and many other flaws of the film become more apparent, including bad acting by Milan Pleština, matched by equally disappointing performance as Rade Šerbedžija as cynical government official near the end of the film. The prison riot, inspired by real events that actually took place few years later than time depicted in the film (and which were less violent and dramatic), serves as convenient way to wrap up the plot. Although Aćimović should be commended for his willingness to take Croatian cinema to seldom taken paths, result of his efforts in this film is still disappointing.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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