★★★★ Watched 04 Apr, 2020

Another social drama – the most popular genre with Slovene filmmakers – which, to be honest, doesn’t feel as gloomy thanks to the fact that over half of the story happens in Italy and mostly outside. I liked its storytelling device where the plot is presented from three isolated perspectives. At first we follow estranged father and son (played by well known and respected real life father and son) in search of the other son. Then we see the parallel timeline of son’s wife and their daughter (played by daughters of two legendary actors) taking care of demented grandmother. At last we become a watchful eye of the troubled younger brother on his personal journey of reincarnated Jesus. Not much is being said directly, but we can piece together that younger brother has a history of mental illness therefore his father is over protectively keeping him close to home. Turns out with a good reason, since he gets quickly seduced by a clever hobo, playing directly into his psychosis by literally taking him on a ride.

Because I have spent almost 20 years living abroad, which gave me more wider perspective, I can say that Slovene people have much more underlying and untreated mental problems as it would seam at first glance. This film address that in quite realistic way as it shows reality of many families who suffer in silence and shame. The latter being displayed through the father’s frustrated overprotective reactions when hearing comments by Italians they encounter during their search. Just now, after writing this review, I realized that Slovene filmmakers must be so focused on this genre to put up the mirror to the society and make them finally face their inner demons.

Source: Letterboxd
Info: IMDb