Charleston & Vendetta
Encyclopedia
Tears for Sale also known internationally as Charleston & Vendetta or also as Funeral Brides (Original title in Serbian
: Чарлстон за Огњенку, Čarlston za Ognjenku, literal translation Charleston for Ognjenka, French
: Charleston et Vendetta) is a Serbia
n film.
Directed by Uroš Stojanović, it's starring Sonja Kolačarić
, Katarina Radivojević
, Nenad Jezdić, Stefan Kapičić, and Olivera Katarina.
It was released in Serbia following a January 30, 2008 premiere at Belgrade
's Sava Centar. Made on a budget that exceeds €
4 million, the movie was shot during summer 2005 as the most expensive Serbian movie ever (until St. George Shoots the Dragon
surpassed it a year later). It then went into a long post-production due to specific CGI
requirements.
Featuring 40 minutes worth of special effects and over 100,000 meters of film, around five times more than averagely used in Serbia, from the technical point of view the film turned out to be one of the most ambitious undertakings in the history of Serbian cinematography. The musical score was done by Japan
ese composer Shigeru Umebayashi
. Luc Besson
's production and distribution companies Blue Pen and EuropaCorp
hold the film's foreign market distribution rights.
In September 2008, the film was shown at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
where it had 3 screenings as part of the festival's Vanguard programme. It was shown at the Santa Barbara 2009 International Film Festival (22 January - 1 February). In August 2009, it premiered in France
.
Serbia. Rebuilding after a gruelling armed conflict in which it lost a sizable part of its young male population, the nation is struggling to recover demographically. The situation is especially visible in certain rural parts where this shortage of men threatens to extinguish life completely.
Two sisters, Ognjenka (Sonja Kolačarić
) and Mala Boginja (Katarina Radivojević
) from a fictional Pokrp village that has no males of marrying age set off for the city in search of good men to bring home.
Web magazine Popboks called it a cross between an A movie and a B movie
. According to their reviewer Vladislava Vojnović, despite being clearly conceived as an A movie "with production whose is on full display - from glamorous make-up, costume design, and cinematography over to impeccable picture & sound quality and last but not least Sonja Kolačarić's fascinating portrayal - Charleston & Vendetta also contains many B movie liabilities like a subpar screenplay with plenty of holes".
In similar vein, Politika
s film critic Dubravka Lakić praised the movie's look, but has problems with its screenplay oversights, all the while feeling this "postmodern
cheerful fairy tale
for adults" is "more of a glamorously packaged oversized trailer
than a story-based product with coherent beginning, middle and end".
The review penned by B92
's Gavrilo Petrović was more of the same, extolling the film's "magical look that brings certain French blockbusters to mind" with "brilliant photography, grandiose sequences and costumes, opulent cinematography, mostly impeccable editing, and computer generated imagery that stands up to anything seen in other great-looking movies" while criticizing "the way dramaturgy takes a back seat to aggressive spectacle sometime into the film with two initially likeable heroines suddenly turning into detached fashion models while all that is required from the multitude of supporting actresses is to look good in slow-motion".
NIN
magazine's Saša Janković was very critical, calling the film "an example of Serbian megalomania
" and adding that "its screenplay is incomplete while the direction is at times fairly arbitrary".
On the other hand, the film got its most glowing review from Blic
s Milan Vlajčić, who called it "an extraordinary moment for new Serbian film". In between praises for the whole cast, Vlajčić especially notices director and writer Uroš Stojanović, "whose debut showed maturity in stylistic composition of a comedy that contains patterns of quite a few genres - from melodrama to fantasy".
on July 28, 2008.
Now
magazine gave it a very poor one-star mark, with its reviewer referring to it as "a demented Serbian fantasy". He continued with describing it as "a Serbian version of Amélie
, if you think Amélie is a movie about hot ladies with prominent facial features interacting with a series of expensive digital effects" before exclaiming: "I'm tempted to hail this as one of the fest's must-see movies – you really must see it to understand the depths of its batshit craziness".
Todd Brown of showcase.ca and twitchfilm.net, on the other hand, loved it, calling it "a remarkable film on a number of levels that manages what seems like an impossible task: balancing the tragic history of its home nation with a sense of legitimate magic and wonder". He has further praise for director Stojanovic and the "stunning visuals". Finally, he glows about the movie feeling like "a Grimm's
fairy tale
come to life, a world where magic exists but is also accompanied by darkness, death, sex and more".
Movie City Newss David Poland penned a generally affirmative review, summing up the movie as "a fairy tale filled with dark jokes, estrogen, sex, and explosions". He further notices the film's style "that reaches beyond Gilliam
with a profoundly Eastern Europe
an sensibility and a fascinating approach to the idea of the feminine" as well as predicts that with this film Stojanovic has become one of the "next hot candidates for a Hollywood slot".
The film's promotion in the United States
actually began months earlier in March 2008, without it even being available for viewing in American cinemas or festivals. Its main selling point at this stage was the political upheaval in Serbia at the time with parliamentary elections being held following a government's fall after the unilateral declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo, all of which led to the LA Times publishing a large piece about the movie written by its staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Predictably, geo-political overtones in light of current political situation in Serbia dominated the piece.
In June 2008, another American publication took notice. The article-review in Variety
by Alissa Simon also touched on politics as she sees the movie as "a postmodern allegorical tale" which "succeeds in poking fun at various Serbian national myths and symbols with its strong, lusty, independent women, eager-to-fight men and sacrilegious shenanigans in a hearse and among tombstones". Among praises for the visuals and special effects, she admits that the movie "will require careful handling and critical support to reach international audiences".
American audiences had a chance to see the movie on January 27, 2009 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
. The film also won a general admiration at the Syracuse International Film Festival (Syracuse, New York) on April 28, 2009.
The reviews in the French press were somewhat reserved. Le Monde
praised "the spellbinding atmosphere with flights of poetry, boisterous jubilation, and Yugoslav frenzy that brings the fever of Emir Kusturica
to mind", but has issues with the "chaotic screenplay archs drawn from Serbian folklore, culture, and history with codes that escape us".
Despite the lukewarm reviews, Serbian audiences have responded to the movie in large numbers. Shown on twenty screens during its first weekend in general release (February 1–3, 2008), Charleston & Vendetta took in a gross amount of US$80,699. Its second weekend (February 8–10, also on twenty screens) in Serbian theaters was even more successful with US$92,377 earned. During the calendar year 2008, Tears for Sale was the most watched movie in Serbian cinemas with a total gross of US$634,620.
In France, the move had very modest box office take of US$19,314 during its short theatrical run.
and the United Kingdom
through Icon Entertainment International, a subsidiary of Icon Productions
. The Australian distribution is slated for August 2010, while the British one starts on 20 September 2010.
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Чарлстон за Огњенку, Čarlston za Ognjenku, literal translation Charleston for Ognjenka, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Charleston et Vendetta) is a Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n film.
Directed by Uroš Stojanović, it's starring Sonja Kolačarić
Sonja Kolačarić
Sonja Kolačarić is a Serbian actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Nebeska udica and Charleston & Vendetta.- Career :...
, Katarina Radivojević
Katarina Radivojević
Katarina Radivojević is a Serbian actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Zona Zamfirova and Charleston & Vendetta.- Personal life :...
, Nenad Jezdić, Stefan Kapičić, and Olivera Katarina.
It was released in Serbia following a January 30, 2008 premiere at Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
's Sava Centar. Made on a budget that exceeds €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
4 million, the movie was shot during summer 2005 as the most expensive Serbian movie ever (until St. George Shoots the Dragon
St. George Shoots the Dragon
St. George Slays the Dragon is a Serbian World War I drama directed by Srđan Dragojević and written by Dušan Kovačević. The movie premiered on March 11, 2009....
surpassed it a year later). It then went into a long post-production due to specific CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
requirements.
Featuring 40 minutes worth of special effects and over 100,000 meters of film, around five times more than averagely used in Serbia, from the technical point of view the film turned out to be one of the most ambitious undertakings in the history of Serbian cinematography. The musical score was done by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese composer Shigeru Umebayashi
Shigeru Umebayashi
is a Japanese composer.Once the leader of Japan's new-wave rock band EX, composer Shigeru Umebayashi began scoring films in 1985 when the band broke up. He has more than 40 Japanese and Chinese films to his credit and is perhaps best known in the West for his score for director Wong Kar-wai's In...
. Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
's production and distribution companies Blue Pen and EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp is a French movie studio headquartered in Paris. It has been a listed company on Euronext Paris since July 2007. Co-founded by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, the Group takes on a range of production activities like film distribution in France, DVD distribution, sales of French TV...
hold the film's foreign market distribution rights.
In September 2008, the film was shown at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
2008 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008...
where it had 3 screenings as part of the festival's Vanguard programme. It was shown at the Santa Barbara 2009 International Film Festival (22 January - 1 February). In August 2009, it premiered in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Plot
The movie's plot is set during 1920s in post-World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Serbia. Rebuilding after a gruelling armed conflict in which it lost a sizable part of its young male population, the nation is struggling to recover demographically. The situation is especially visible in certain rural parts where this shortage of men threatens to extinguish life completely.
Two sisters, Ognjenka (Sonja Kolačarić
Sonja Kolačarić
Sonja Kolačarić is a Serbian actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Nebeska udica and Charleston & Vendetta.- Career :...
) and Mala Boginja (Katarina Radivojević
Katarina Radivojević
Katarina Radivojević is a Serbian actress. She is known for her roles in films such as Zona Zamfirova and Charleston & Vendetta.- Personal life :...
) from a fictional Pokrp village that has no males of marrying age set off for the city in search of good men to bring home.
Serbia
Despite a lot of hype, Charleston & Vendettas reviews in the Serbian media were a mixed bag.Web magazine Popboks called it a cross between an A movie and a B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
. According to their reviewer Vladislava Vojnović, despite being clearly conceived as an A movie "with production whose is on full display - from glamorous make-up, costume design, and cinematography over to impeccable picture & sound quality and last but not least Sonja Kolačarić's fascinating portrayal - Charleston & Vendetta also contains many B movie liabilities like a subpar screenplay with plenty of holes".
In similar vein, Politika
Politika
Politika is a Serbian newspaper. It is considered the newspaper of record and is the oldest daily in the Balkans, having been founded on January 25, 1904 by Vladislav Ribnikar. It is currently being published by Politika Newspapers and Magazines , a joint venture between Politika AD and...
s film critic Dubravka Lakić praised the movie's look, but has problems with its screenplay oversights, all the while feeling this "postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
cheerful fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
for adults" is "more of a glamorously packaged oversized trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
than a story-based product with coherent beginning, middle and end".
The review penned by B92
B92
B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
's Gavrilo Petrović was more of the same, extolling the film's "magical look that brings certain French blockbusters to mind" with "brilliant photography, grandiose sequences and costumes, opulent cinematography, mostly impeccable editing, and computer generated imagery that stands up to anything seen in other great-looking movies" while criticizing "the way dramaturgy takes a back seat to aggressive spectacle sometime into the film with two initially likeable heroines suddenly turning into detached fashion models while all that is required from the multitude of supporting actresses is to look good in slow-motion".
NIN
NIN (magazine)
NIN is a weekly newsmagazine published in Belgrade, Serbia. Its name is an acronym for Nedeljne informativne novine which roughly translates into Weekly Informational Newspaper....
magazine's Saša Janković was very critical, calling the film "an example of Serbian megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
" and adding that "its screenplay is incomplete while the direction is at times fairly arbitrary".
On the other hand, the film got its most glowing review from Blic
Blic (newspaper)
Blic is a tabloid daily newspaper in Serbia owned by Ringier AG group from Switzerland.Started in 1996, it has gone through a slight format change during the mid 2000s to include more in-depth coverage, but it is still, as its name aptly suggest, a paper devoted to quick, concise,...
s Milan Vlajčić, who called it "an extraordinary moment for new Serbian film". In between praises for the whole cast, Vlajčić especially notices director and writer Uroš Stojanović, "whose debut showed maturity in stylistic composition of a comedy that contains patterns of quite a few genres - from melodrama to fantasy".
Croatia
Before general release, the movie premiered at the 2008 Motovun Film FestivalMotovun Film Festival
Motovun Film Festival is an annual film festival established in 1999 and held in Motovun, Croatia. It usually takes place over 5–6 days in late July or early August...
on July 28, 2008.
2008 Toronto International Film Festival
After the screenings held on September 8, 10, and 13, the film, which was shown under the title Tears For Sale, attracted some attention in the English-language media gathered at the festival.Now
NOW (magazine)
Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....
magazine gave it a very poor one-star mark, with its reviewer referring to it as "a demented Serbian fantasy". He continued with describing it as "a Serbian version of Amélie
Amélie
Amélie is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre...
, if you think Amélie is a movie about hot ladies with prominent facial features interacting with a series of expensive digital effects" before exclaiming: "I'm tempted to hail this as one of the fest's must-see movies – you really must see it to understand the depths of its batshit craziness".
Todd Brown of showcase.ca and twitchfilm.net, on the other hand, loved it, calling it "a remarkable film on a number of levels that manages what seems like an impossible task: balancing the tragic history of its home nation with a sense of legitimate magic and wonder". He has further praise for director Stojanovic and the "stunning visuals". Finally, he glows about the movie feeling like "a Grimm's
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
fairy tale
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
come to life, a world where magic exists but is also accompanied by darkness, death, sex and more".
Movie City Newss David Poland penned a generally affirmative review, summing up the movie as "a fairy tale filled with dark jokes, estrogen, sex, and explosions". He further notices the film's style "that reaches beyond Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
with a profoundly Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an sensibility and a fascinating approach to the idea of the feminine" as well as predicts that with this film Stojanovic has become one of the "next hot candidates for a Hollywood slot".
United States
Very soon after the satisfactory buzz and attention Tears for Sale got at the Toronto International Film Festival, news appeared that the movie would get theater release in the United States.The film's promotion in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actually began months earlier in March 2008, without it even being available for viewing in American cinemas or festivals. Its main selling point at this stage was the political upheaval in Serbia at the time with parliamentary elections being held following a government's fall after the unilateral declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo, all of which led to the LA Times publishing a large piece about the movie written by its staff writer Tracy Wilkinson. Predictably, geo-political overtones in light of current political situation in Serbia dominated the piece.
In June 2008, another American publication took notice. The article-review in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
by Alissa Simon also touched on politics as she sees the movie as "a postmodern allegorical tale" which "succeeds in poking fun at various Serbian national myths and symbols with its strong, lusty, independent women, eager-to-fight men and sacrilegious shenanigans in a hearse and among tombstones". Among praises for the visuals and special effects, she admits that the movie "will require careful handling and critical support to reach international audiences".
American audiences had a chance to see the movie on January 27, 2009 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival...
. The film also won a general admiration at the Syracuse International Film Festival (Syracuse, New York) on April 28, 2009.
France
On August 12, 2009, the movie had its theatrical release in France. It was shown with the name Charleston et Vendette, under the slogan "La chasse a l’homme est ouverte!" (The hunt for men has begun!).The reviews in the French press were somewhat reserved. Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
praised "the spellbinding atmosphere with flights of poetry, boisterous jubilation, and Yugoslav frenzy that brings the fever of Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
to mind", but has issues with the "chaotic screenplay archs drawn from Serbian folklore, culture, and history with codes that escape us".
Box office
As of September 2008, Serbia is the only country where Tears for Sale has gone into general theater release.Despite the lukewarm reviews, Serbian audiences have responded to the movie in large numbers. Shown on twenty screens during its first weekend in general release (February 1–3, 2008), Charleston & Vendetta took in a gross amount of US$80,699. Its second weekend (February 8–10, also on twenty screens) in Serbian theaters was even more successful with US$92,377 earned. During the calendar year 2008, Tears for Sale was the most watched movie in Serbian cinemas with a total gross of US$634,620.
In France, the move had very modest box office take of US$19,314 during its short theatrical run.
DVD release
The movie is set for DVD distribution in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
through Icon Entertainment International, a subsidiary of Icon Productions
Icon Productions
Icon Productions LLC is an American independent production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey.-History:Icon started when Gibson was having trouble in financing the 1990 film Hamlet...
. The Australian distribution is slated for August 2010, while the British one starts on 20 September 2010.
External links
- Časkom za Ognjenku, Press, December 24, 2007
- Olivera Katarina: "Ukleta" žena igra čarlston, MTS Mondo, January 11, 2008
- Čarlston za Ognjenku za sada najgledaniji, MTS Mondo, February 6, 2008
- Čarlston za Ognjenku videlo 115.000 ljudi, MTS Mondo, February 25, 2008
- Svetska publika nestrpljivo čeka "Čarlston", MTS Mondo, March 27, 2008
- Carlsto za Ognjenku at 2008 Toronto International Film Festival