Alma (Sara Luna Zoric), who appears to be around 20 years old, is a Bosnian national raised in the Netherlands by her single mother, who brought her to Northern Europe with her father. At some point, however, the father decided he was “homesick” and went back to Bosnia permanently. As Ena Sendijarevic’s movie opens, Alma is also about to go back to Bosnia, a country she doesn’t know, in order to visit her father, who is in the hospital. Her mother (Sanja Buric), who confesses to having given up on her husband a long time ago (it’s not clear if they ever actually divorced), will not accompany her, and so puts her in touch with Alma’s cousin, Emir (Ernad Prnjavorac), to meet her at the airport. So begins a peculiar road movie that doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises, even if, like me, you know little to nothing about Bosnia except that it was embroiled in a horrific war in the 90s.

That’s probably because movies that take place in Eastern Europe and are made by Eastern Europeans tend to have the same sort of semi-ironic tone. The Bosnia that presents itself to Alma is itching to be European and failing miserably. Emir, an intense beanpole of a guy, doesn’t have a job, per se, though he claims to get by on “odd jobs” that are not described to Alma, who is left to wander the tacky malls and old streets of Sarajevo while Emir is off on some errand. Locked out of his apartment, she meets Denis (Lazar Dragojevic), who claims to be Emir’s “intern,” in the hallway of Emir’s building, and they eventually make out like teenagers, even though at this point the viewer may wonder what’s in it for Alma, who so far has come off as supremely cynical and dry in her pronouncements about what it is she likes. In any event, neither of these two male specifmens are any help in getting Alma to the hospital where her father is, since it’s in another town, and she eventually takes a bus and gets lost without her suitcase, a predicament that feels trite in that it offers Sendijarevic the opportunity to introduce Alma to some weird, slightly dangerous characters from whom Emir and Denis rescue her, much to her chagrin. Further adventures ensue, including a final reckoning with Alma’s father, the pillaging of his property, the reclamation of a suitcase that isn’t Alma’s but is nevertheless filled with illicit drugs, and an unfortunate encounter with some impolite thugs.

Sendijarevic maintains the ironic tone with brio, but her admirable style doesn’t overcome the problem of the main character. Alma feels more like a vehicle than a protagonist, and in contradiction to the sunny title—perhaps the central irony?—she never expresses anything that might indicate she has the capacity to enjoy herself. When she snuggles up to Denis or even Emir in a bit of incestuous hanky-panky it seems to be more for our delectation than for any reasons having to do with character development. Througout the movie Alma is dressed provocatively in mini-dresses and T-shirts, a portrait of nubile lassitude with no inner life. The optimistic ending doesn’t make us hopeful for Alma, because she hasn’t grown during the time we’ve spent with her. 

In Bosnian, Dutch and English. Now playing in Tokyo at Theater Image Forum Aoyama (03-5766-0114).

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photo (c) 2019 (Pupkin)