This hellhole that we call Earth has been plagued by countless forms of fascism and war since the dawn of time. Among the earliest records of human history are so-called great men boasting of their conquests, be it the Narmer Palette in Egypt or the Stele of the Vultures in ancient Sumeria. Then there is Germany’s reign of terror over all of Europe. As if that wasn’t enough, Russia is waging war on Ukraine, and Israel is erasing Palestine from existence while you’re reading this sentence. Now, when movies (and TV shows) depict these horrifying conflicts, they usually focus on the kinds of oppression and violence that were inflicted by the oppressors on the oppressed, you know, to remind people that it shouldn’t happen again. Yet, it happens again and again. So, I guess, filmmakers are approaching this topic a little differently now by showing how the ignorance of the common populace makes it easy for fascism to thrive. Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is a name that comes to mind. Vinay Shukla’s While We Watched is really prescient. Then there’s the one from the master Martin Scorsese himself, Killers of the Flower Moon. And joining this list all the way from Croatia is Celebration.
Bruno Ankovic’s Celebration, written by Jelena Paljan, follows a nonlinear narrative and takes place across four timelines: the autumn of 1945, the summer of 1933, the winter of 1926, and the spring of 1941. In 1945, we see Mijo hiding out in the woods so that he isn’t killed by, well, the people who are looking for him. His childhood sweetheart, Drenka, helps him with food and medication, but Mijo knows that he is living on borrowed time, because if the authorities don’t get him, the weather certainly will. He can’t reunite with his family or the love of his life because that’ll put them in more danger than they are already in. So, he looks at them from afar, and every time he dozes off, we get a peek into his past. The 1933 section of the narrative explores Mijo’s relationship with his family, his awkward interactions with Drenka, and a sacrifice that he needs to make to become a man. 1926 is all about the death of innocence. I don’t think I have to tell you what 1941 is all about. And by the time the film returns to Mijo looking for shelter in 1945, you are made to wonder whether or not you actually want the protagonist (if you can call him one) to survive the whole ordeal.
In the director’s official statement, which came with the press kit for Celebration, he explicitly stated that he was drawing parallels between Mijo’s journey and the modern-day rise of right-wing extremism and populism, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and every young individual who is recruited into the army guided by some kind of extremist ideology. And he said that he has made this film so that the next generations do not become puppets of some fascist regime that’s looking to subject minorities to extreme levels of torture to experience what they consider to be “true power.” So, yes, even if you think that this is just an 86-minute-long survival drama with occasional flashbacks of people farming, eating, walking, and thinking, allow me to tell you that it’s not. On one hand, Ankovic and Paljan are showing that people want to just chill and have a good time. On the other hand, they are warning folks that ignorance or fence-sitting doesn’t always guarantee bliss; it comes with some devastating consequences that can be felt across several generations. Hence, if we don’t fight for our right to peacefully enjoy the silence that nature provides, those damn fascists are going to turn you into their foot soldiers and convince you that the only path to achieve nirvana is by listening to the screams and cries of minorities.
Celebration definitely uses the tropes of the survival drama genre to underscore the need to respect the sanctity of human life. Through every horrible situation that Ankovic puts Mijo through, he is essentially asking the audience, “Do you want to live like this? Sure, your latest fascist friends are giving you new boots, and their overall aesthetic is very edgy and whatnot. But, one day, it’s going to come to an end. On that day, do you want to sleep in manure to reheat your cold heart?” And, in my opinion, it works if you are not looking for the traditional characterization of the protagonist and the supporting roles. In addition to that, I think Ankovic treats the story of Mijo as a nature documentary. This is just my theory, but I feel that he purposefully employs glacial pacing, minimal cuts, wide shots of the landscape, and beautiful sound design to highlight the ways in which we can live if we keep fascism at bay or lock it in a vault and shoot it into space. In case you don’t know, fascism is not only detrimental to human life; it harms the environment as well. With every bomb they drop and every concentration camp they build, they are regressing the planet by so many centuries that, after a point, no amount of green activism is going to fix it, and the upcoming generations will suffer even if every single fascist has been erased from existence. So, yeah, if you love nature, oppose fascism.
Much like every other aspect of Celebration, the performances in the film are extremely minimalist. Bernard Tomic is undoubtedly made to go through hell, and he effortlessly braves the cold and the torrential rain to put us in the shoes of Mijo. Lars Stern and Jan Dolezal, as the younger versions of Mijo, are brilliant. They showcase such maturity and subtlety with their expressions and body language that a lot of “seasoned” actors would do well to take notes from them. Klara Fiolic is great in the role of Drenka, and her chemistry with Tomic is really understated. Kresimir Mikic, Nedim Nezirovic, Tanja Smoje, David Tasic Daf, Izudin Bajrovic, and the rest of the supporting cast are excellent. To be honest, the more you immerse yourself in the film, the less all of them seem like actors who are performing. It feels like you have been transported to Croatia, and you are watching life pass by—not in a good way, though, but in a way where an overwhelming sense of dread envelopes you, and you begin praying to the Almighty that what’s about to happen is somehow averted. Soon after that, the realization hits you that everything you are watching in the film is happening in real time, and you have to figure out a way to stop it before it is too late. And it’s in that complicated moment where you’ll probably understand how nuanced all the performances are.
Celebration is definitely worth a watch. It’s not a traditional World War 2 drama, and the way it tries to educate audiences about the invisible ways in which fascists invade our surroundings is certainly something that I rarely see in movies and TV shows. But, in doing so, it efficiently conveys the message that a country doesn’t descend into total dictatorship overnight. It’s an extremely slow and meticulous process. It’s a process that has been perfected for several years. And it’s a process that is successful almost every single time. It’s pointless to question why it happens. We just have to accept the fact that it happens. Every time there’s a phase of peace, relatively speaking, you can be sure that someone or some group is looking at it as an opportunity to upset the balance just because they can. Staying vigilant all the time is tiring, but suffering and watching your loved ones suffer at the hands of the most heartless monsters on Planet Earth is much worse. So, it’s important to oppose even the tiniest bit of aggression on your rights. You should get to decide what you want to wear, who you want to marry, if you want a pet, where you want to work, who you want to pray to, and what you want to say in public or in private. If anyone says otherwise and promotes discrimination, mob lynching, and wanton violence… rebel.
