When Father Was Away on Business

Yugoslavia 1985, 129 minutes
Dir. Emir Kusturica
In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama, Comedy

Topics: Period 1950s.

Feat. Moreno de Bartolli, Miki Manojlovic, Mira Furlan

Aroview: A delightful dramedy of social upheaval, set during Yugoslavia’s Tito-Stalin conflict of the 1950s.

Kusturica filters the tribulations of a fatherless family – he’s been sent to a labour camp for ‘indiscretions’ – through the eyes of a six-year-old, and although less adventurous than the director’s subsequent films, this is an especially affecting, heartfelt take on Balkan history.

Cannes - Palm D’Or
NZ International Film Festival 1986