The breakup of Yugoslavia was a tragedy, especially because of the ethnic cleansing that took place. Accordingly, some recall with nostalgia the way in which the various ethnic groups lived together in harmony under Marshall Iosip Broz Tito. The Great Water (Golemata voda), a Macedonian film directed by Ivo Trajkov and based on the novel by Zhivko Chingo, will disabuse readers of the myth of Tito's era of so-called ethnic harmony. Instead, one will ask, "Ethnic harmony at what price?" Lem Nikodinosky (played by Meto Jovanovsky) is dying of a heart attack as the film begins, evidently after a recent election in which he ran as an advocate of democratic reform. Jovanovsky's voiceovers fill the unspoken silence between scenes of incredible intensity during the time when Lem (played as a twelve-year-old by Saso Kekenovsky) was in an orphanage during 1945-1946. Lem was one of several dozen children who were orphaned by the devastation of World War II in the Balkans. The Yugoslav Partisans, allied with Tito and Iosef Stalin, ran the orphanage as a training camp for Young Pioneers, complete with calisthenics, indoctrination, severe punishment for absurd offenses, and self-criticism sessions. One day, thirteen-year-old Isak Keyten (played by Maja Sankovska) enters the camp, fascinating Lem with his charisma. Lem asks the reclusive but proud Isak to be his friend, a reward for which Isak exacts a price: to ask a question in class about the health of a certain student. For his questioning, Lem is denounced, put in the cellar on a bread-and-water diet, and is forced to confess errors in public in order to gain his release. In secret, Isak then uses a knife to draw blood from both wrists and place the blood in a cup; after the two boys drink the blood, Isak proclaims that they are brothers. Isak, however, is both a Christian believer and a black magic practitioner. He also plays tricks on several members of the staff, including Olivera (played by Verica Nedeska), the sadistic deputy commandant of the camp, who becomes sexually attracted to him. But Olivera later responds to one of his alleged devilish deeds by poking out Isak's eyes and notifying higher-ups that the commandant, Ariton (played by Mitko Apostolovsky), has proved unworthy. Nevertheless, Lem is responsible, writes a confession on a scrap of paper, and plans to give the paper to Ariton, who has a death sentence on his head. Having been pleased by Lem's previous self-criticism rhetoric, Ariton at the end of the film refuses to read the paper and tells Lem that he is being transferred to an academic competition in Belgrade. There are many mysteries in the film, but the greatest is how the little boy grew into a great democratic politician. Clearly, the story is a paradigm for the suffering of the people of the former Yugoslavia, and perhaps an explanation why in 1948 Tito broke with Stalin and accepted more diversity. The Political Film Society has nominated The Great Water as best film exposé and best film on human rights of 2005. MH
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