FOUR DIMENSIONS OF FESTIVITY (1967) BY ĐORĐE KADIJEVIĆ
Posted: Nov 17th 2008
Author: Dejan Ognjanović
Đorđe Kadijević\'s Praznik (Festivity, 1967) is a film that received occasional half-hearted praise at the time of its appearance, but little understanding or serious critical evaluation. Even in the decades since its premiere it remains an unsung masterpiece of Serbian cinema, a largely unknown (and unavailable!) title to the younger cinephiles. This essay attempts to unveil hitherto barely noticed or unnoticed aspects of its multilayered qualities. The first part argues with the largely negative critiques, or backhanded compliments Festivity has received at its premiere. The essay then goes into a minute analysis of the four main aspects of this film, seen as: 1) a war drama, dealing with a rare point of view (all characters are in a monarchist chetnik village, and no communist partisans are seen); 2) a horror film (metaphysical overtones of violence and R. Otto\'s \'mysterium tremendum\' embodied in the figure of a silent chetnik executor, Manola); 3) a carnivalesque festivity (in Bakhtinian terms) which becomes a danse macabre; and 4) a festivity of absurd, in which Kadijević\'s existentialist views color the film\'s grim overtones. Providing at least four (interconnected) angles from which to view Festivity, the essay uncovers the unrecognized riches existent in this film, and connects them with the rest of its author\'s opus in which they are consistently present.
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