A CENSORED DEBUT, OR: ONCE UPON A TIME IN (SOCIALIST) SERBIA - THE RETURN (1966) BY ŽIVOJIN PAVLOVIĆ
Posted: Sep 30th 2008
Author: Dejan Dabić
Živojin Pavlović (1933-1998) is a well-known and deservedly praised Serbian director, but his debut feature has always been overshadowed by his later major works. Usually written off in a couple of sentences, his Povratak (The Return, 1966) deserves a revaluation. In this essay it is analyzed as an attempt to incorporate elements of crime drama and gangster film into the socialist environment of then-Serbia. As such, it was not welcome, since the officials claimed that there was no organized crime in the near-perfect society. A special stress is placed on the political issues surrounding the themes of this film which eventually made it censored, and neglected once it belatedly premiered. An account is provided of the political environment which tried to control "edgier" films, but also of the aesthetic and ideological components which made those films problematic in their time and still relevant in ours. The essay analyzes themes and motifs, structure and style, iconography and typology of The Return, and places it in the context of Pavlović\'s opus, recognizing elements that will dominate his later masterpieces. The Return is also seen as one of the forerunners of what would, a few years later, be labeled "The Black Wave" of Serbian cinema: a string of grim, even desperate films highly critical of their society. Thus, the essay opens the possibilities of reading The Return from the standpoints of genre cinema, author film and political film.
2007 - 2012 Novi kadrovi, supported by Open Society Institute New York, and SCP Pro Helvetia Beograd, website by Breve