THE PROFESSIONAL
/ PROFESIONALAC
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 2003
DIRECTED BY: DUŠAN KOVACEVIC, 100 MIN
Print-shop owner Teja is having a busy day: his workers want to go on
strike. And his secretary announces a visitor whom she cannot get rid
of, no matter how hard she tries. The unwelcome guest arrives with a suitcase
full of objects that look familiar to Teja – and a story that begins
to intrigue his host, because it is the story of the two of them: Luka
– as the visitor calls himself – was Teja’s shadow,
a secret policeman, a professional. During the Miloševic regime,
he shadowed the radical oppositionist Teja for years and even interfered
with the most private aspects of his victim’s life – be it
as a saboteur or a protector. By and by, the atmosphere of latent threat
through the stranger subsides while Teja’s curiosity grows. The
two opponents come close to fraternizing, but are always interrupted by
the angry demands of the workers. Director Dušan Kovacevic has adapted
his own play into an ironic character-piece – not only about life
in a police state, not only about the absurdity of making a bogeyman out
of the enemy which has had grave consequences in his home-country, but
also about the uncertainties of existence and the dynamics between appearances
and reality.
Caligari: 22.04. / 8 p.m.
Bambi: 24.04. / 3.30 p.m.
|