In the Name of the People

Zivko Nikolic is easily the most important Montenegrin movie director of all times and this is his most audacious film. So many fine details that only a Montenegrin can pick up, the language, the mentality, directness of the way people interact, the good side of their mentality - depicted in Milutin, and the ugly side - pretty much all the rest...

I can't witness if the actual story was in any sense realistic, however, the people are spot on - bit exaggerated but true to the bone! It is perhaps not the easiest film to watch, however the effort will be amply rewarded. The mistake one shouldn't make is to take the story literally. It is a very subtle analysis of his beloved and at the same time cursed land.

I am still amazed at how Zivko managed or more precisely was allowed to make such an uncompromising attack at the secret police and its legacy in Montenegro. Perhaps he caught a rare moment of about 4-5 years when its grip temporarily let off. After 1989, the guys in leather coats (these days driving Golfs, as another self chosen status symbol) are back in earnest and this film is very relevant indeed even in present day Montenegrin society.