The Optimists (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
The Optimists is a 2006 Serbian black comedy film directed by Goran Paskaljević
. The film, presented as five unrelated narrative sequences, was inspired by Voltaire
's satirical work Candide
. The Optimists features an ensamble cast of Serbian actors, with Lazar Ristovski
appearing in all five storylines.
The film had its premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
(TIFF) and was subsequently screened at several other film festivals earning multiple awards. Ristovski was named Best Actor at the 51st Valladolid International Film Festival while the film won the Golden Spike award as the best film of the festival also earning the Youth Jury Award. The Optimists was included as part of a retrospective exhibition on director Goran Paskaljević at the Museum of Modern Art
in 2008.
A sleazy businessman (Tihomir Arsić) takes a young woman (Bojana Novaković
) in his employ to a rural area and he rapes her there. The girl's father (Ristovski) is upset and wants to kill the man. The businessman is powerful and the father is afraid of getting fired so the father, instead, ends up greatly apologizing to the businessman suggesting that the assault was the daughter's fault and that it inconvenienced the businessman.
Ilija (Viktor Savić) is a young man whose father Ratomir (Ristovski) recently died. Ilija takes the money that was saved for his father's funeral and he quickly loses it all while gambling. He meets an old lady (Mira Banjac
) who was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and who has had a lucky streak on the slot machines ever since her diagnosis. Ilija joins her in hopes of rejoicing with her success.
Pera (Ristovski), the owner of a large slaughterhouse, calls a doctor (Nebojša Glogovac
) to his home complaining that his 12-year-old son (Nebojša Milovanović) is giving him a heart attack. The 12-year-old is kept locked up in a room because he feels overly dedicated to the family business, so much so that he slaughters every animal he sees. The doctor realizes that he is expected to treat the son, not the slaughterhouse owner.
A con man posing as a faith healer (Ristovski) approaches a group of people with various disabilities and illnesses. He offers, for a fee, to take them by the busload to a spring that has magical healing powers where they will be cured. The group boards the bus and arrives at the destination. Once there, the con man abandons the group and leaves the site. The group, having realized they're being abandoned, does not do much to stop the bus from leaving because they're still determined to get the full benefit of the spring's healing waters.
wrote a positive review for The Optimists in which he stated that, besides the film's "seemingly gloomy viewpoint", the director's "compassion is as pronounced as his sarcasm, and his sympathy for his characters no less evident than his derision." Fainaru tied the Candide inspiration to Paskaljević's "attempts to pinpoint some of the reasons that have held his part of the world back in the past and still do to this day", he commented that the director "plays his cast like a virtuoso", that he "displays superb confidence in his choice of camera set-ups" and commended the cinematography, music and art direction. On Lazar Ristovski's performance, Fainaru commented that Ristovski's "powerful personality often tends to sweep everybody else off the screen."
Reviewing the film for Variety
magazine at its screening at the 2006 TIFF, Dennis Harvey gave the film a mixed review. Harvey stated that although the "stories' conceits have promise", "there's a certain flatness of execution that reduces everything to the same watchable but dispiritingly minor plane." He also opined that the film expresses a futility that "might well have become a powerful statement in itself" but that it is, ultimately, "is blunted by a sense of artistic inertia." Commenting on the separated narrative structure, similar to Paskaljević's 1998 film Cabaret Balkan
, he stated that "Rather than parting on a note of irony or resolution, most of these tales simply deadend when situations have achieved their equilibrium of hopelessness and defeat." He reservedly commended the acting, appreciating Ristovski's work for "nimbly vanishing into five separate roles" and commenting on the other performances as being "solid if seldom inspired". On the film being inspired by Candide, Harvey commented that certain elements were notably missing. He claimed that "Voltaire's satirical savagery is missing here - not his cynicism, but the wit and fury that punched it across."
Goran Paskaljevic
Goran Paskaljević is a Serbian film director. He was raised by his grandparents in Niš, following the divorce of his parents, and 14 years later returned to Belgrade where he worked in his stepfather's cinema....
. The film, presented as five unrelated narrative sequences, was inspired by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
's satirical work Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
. The Optimists features an ensamble cast of Serbian actors, with Lazar Ristovski
Lazar Ristovski
Lazar "Laza" Ristovski is a Serbian actor, director, producer and writer. He has appeared on stage about 4000 times, and starred in over 40 films, TV series and TV dramas, mostly in lead roles.-Biography:...
appearing in all five storylines.
The film had its premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
2006 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people through the eyes of a father and daughter."In a press release...
(TIFF) and was subsequently screened at several other film festivals earning multiple awards. Ristovski was named Best Actor at the 51st Valladolid International Film Festival while the film won the Golden Spike award as the best film of the festival also earning the Youth Jury Award. The Optimists was included as part of a retrospective exhibition on director Goran Paskaljević at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in 2008.
Plot
A village has been almost destroyed by a large flood. A hypnotist (Ristovski) comes to the village and speaks to the destitute inhabitants. Free of charge, the hypnotist offers to lift the villagers' spirits through hypnosis. The villagers doubt the hypnotist's noble motive and he is accused of an apparent theft. The police arrest, beat and interrogate him.A sleazy businessman (Tihomir Arsić) takes a young woman (Bojana Novaković
Bojana Novakovic
Bojana Novakovic is a Serbian Australian actress who works in Australia and the United States.-Early and personal life:Novakovic was born in 1981 in Serbia. She moved to Australia in 1988, at the age of seven. Novakovic was initially interested in becoming a social worker or doctor, but after a...
) in his employ to a rural area and he rapes her there. The girl's father (Ristovski) is upset and wants to kill the man. The businessman is powerful and the father is afraid of getting fired so the father, instead, ends up greatly apologizing to the businessman suggesting that the assault was the daughter's fault and that it inconvenienced the businessman.
Ilija (Viktor Savić) is a young man whose father Ratomir (Ristovski) recently died. Ilija takes the money that was saved for his father's funeral and he quickly loses it all while gambling. He meets an old lady (Mira Banjac
Mira Banjac
Mirjana "Mira" Banjac is a Serbian actress, specialised for character roles.-External links:...
) who was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness and who has had a lucky streak on the slot machines ever since her diagnosis. Ilija joins her in hopes of rejoicing with her success.
Pera (Ristovski), the owner of a large slaughterhouse, calls a doctor (Nebojša Glogovac
Nebojša Glogovac
Nebojša Glogovac is an award winning Serbian actor.-List of appearances:# 72 Days...
) to his home complaining that his 12-year-old son (Nebojša Milovanović) is giving him a heart attack. The 12-year-old is kept locked up in a room because he feels overly dedicated to the family business, so much so that he slaughters every animal he sees. The doctor realizes that he is expected to treat the son, not the slaughterhouse owner.
A con man posing as a faith healer (Ristovski) approaches a group of people with various disabilities and illnesses. He offers, for a fee, to take them by the busload to a spring that has magical healing powers where they will be cured. The group boards the bus and arrives at the destination. Once there, the con man abandons the group and leaves the site. The group, having realized they're being abandoned, does not do much to stop the bus from leaving because they're still determined to get the full benefit of the spring's healing waters.
Critical response
Dan Fainaru of Screen InternationalScreen International
Screen International is a multimedia film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by EMAP, a British b2b media company.The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business...
wrote a positive review for The Optimists in which he stated that, besides the film's "seemingly gloomy viewpoint", the director's "compassion is as pronounced as his sarcasm, and his sympathy for his characters no less evident than his derision." Fainaru tied the Candide inspiration to Paskaljević's "attempts to pinpoint some of the reasons that have held his part of the world back in the past and still do to this day", he commented that the director "plays his cast like a virtuoso", that he "displays superb confidence in his choice of camera set-ups" and commended the cinematography, music and art direction. On Lazar Ristovski's performance, Fainaru commented that Ristovski's "powerful personality often tends to sweep everybody else off the screen."
Reviewing the film for 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...
magazine at its screening at the 2006 TIFF, Dennis Harvey gave the film a mixed review. Harvey stated that although the "stories' conceits have promise", "there's a certain flatness of execution that reduces everything to the same watchable but dispiritingly minor plane." He also opined that the film expresses a futility that "might well have become a powerful statement in itself" but that it is, ultimately, "is blunted by a sense of artistic inertia." Commenting on the separated narrative structure, similar to Paskaljević's 1998 film Cabaret Balkan
Cabaret Balkan
Cabaret Balkan is a 1998 Serbian film directed by Goran Paskaljević starring Miki Manojlović and Nebojša Glogovac. Its original Serbian language title is Буре барута which means Powder Keg...
, he stated that "Rather than parting on a note of irony or resolution, most of these tales simply deadend when situations have achieved their equilibrium of hopelessness and defeat." He reservedly commended the acting, appreciating Ristovski's work for "nimbly vanishing into five separate roles" and commenting on the other performances as being "solid if seldom inspired". On the film being inspired by Candide, Harvey commented that certain elements were notably missing. He claimed that "Voltaire's satirical savagery is missing here - not his cynicism, but the wit and fury that punched it across."
Awards
- Cinéma Tout EcranCinéma Tout EcranCinéma Tous Ecrans , is an international film festival held annually in the city of Geneva, Switzerland since 1995. The current Artistic and General Director is Claudia Durgnat....
(2006)- The FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
International Critics Award - Best Production - Goran Paskaljević
- Young Jury Mention
- The FIPRESCI
- 51st Valladolid International Film Festival
- Golden Spike
- Best Actor - Lazar Ristovski
- Youth Jury Award
- 23rd Festroia International Film FestivalFestroia International Film FestivalThe Festróia Festival Internacional de Cinema de Tróia is an annual film festival that takes place in Setúbal, Portugal since 1985.The festival's competitive section is open to films from countries producing less than 30 features per year...
- Audience Award