I don’t wanna toot my own horn here, but the thing I like about me is my open mind about gener movies outside the ordinary. I mean, around me - not counting you my friends of course - people seems to think that they’re fans of cult cinema only because they’ve seen The Evil Dead (nothing bad about that!) or movies they actually think is unintentionally bad, like the 50’s monster movie spoof Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Then they stop and ends up watching another Game of Thrones marathon. Which is cool also, but it’s not what I’m after myself. I need something that challenges me, surprises me - even if it’s generic or sometimes even considered “bad”. I love cinema, and that means everything. This endless search for new experiences leads me making new friendships all over the world, and by following their feeds on social networks or get involved in discussions I learn about new titles to find and watch. A few weeks ago it was my birthday and to my surprise (not really, because he’s extremely nice!) a friend in Germany, Boris, sent me six Serbian films - stuff he thought I would appreciate. What a guy! The first one I sat down to watch was Labyrinth, which logline seemed very interesting. And I’m pretty sure more than few of you would like it a lot.
Dragan Nikolic is Pavle, called Pop, an old gambler and womanizer who after 20 years returns to his old hood in Belgrade. Maybe to start all over, pay back old debts, make new pals. He quickly hooks up with his old buddy Lucky (Josif Tatic), a quite sad old man with a daughter sick in leukemia and a professional astrologer. Lucky brings him to a medium, to make contact with their dead friend Zoran - who killed himself just before Pop left those 20 years ago. Zoran, through the medium, reveals he didn’t kill himself; he was murdered! Probably a scam, but Pop can’t stop himself from looking deeper into this claim - mostly because the medium names the killer - and the killer’s address! Pop is soon drawn into a strange mystery, leading back to ancient times. Pop’s archaeologist brother gets involved too, and it won’t take long until they get involved in something a LOT bigger than expected!
As usual, I don’t want to spoil a film like this, which story depends on twists and mysteries to be solved. I would call it an esoteric thriller, with some damn good writing. Don’t expect action or violence, this is a slow-moving but mesmerising thriller which very effectively links the past - both historical pasts and the life of Pop, without feeling forced or silly. Don’t take this the wrong way now, but Labyrinth felt a lot like something Italian, a touch of Argento without murders - or even Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate, hmm… well, maybe Pupi Avati is a good comparison. Labyrinth is more laid back, less wild, quite subtle if you want so. There’s some other concepts also, which reminded me of a certain South Korean classic… but I won’t say more than that.
I feel I’m hyping it, so sorry for that. But if you’re into serious European thrillers this might be something for you. At least you will enjoy the fantastic cast - with famous Serbian actor Dragan Nikolic doing most of the work, but every part is very well cast. I especially like Josif Tatic, doing a very understated performance - and therefore very realistic and touching. Another one is Maja Sabljic, whose performance is more or less the opposite towards Tatic’s - but equally good.
I’m still pretty confused over the ending, which I don’t mind. I like to think and analyse, but I guess I would understand it better if I had any knowledge in the history of Serbia - from wars to religion, and the symbolism used in this. The final shot is cool and even if I don’t really get it I absolutely love it.
In the end this might be a bit too slow for some folks, but personally I enjoyed every minute of this esoteric, mystical thriller with cool locations, strange rituals and a killer cast!
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