How Seventh Heaven suceeds where most Croatian comedies fail

I got the privilege of seeing the latest of Croatian comedic cinema in theatres at a glorious and flashy premiere. I came in with surprisingly low expectations. Don't get me wrong, I think Croatian cinema can do great things, but, when it comes to comedies it's usually very bland, generic, flavourless and just plain unfunny. However, I was intrigued by the cast (particularly the casting of one of my favorite Croatian actors, Krešimir Mikić, as the lead) and it being partially filmed at a location I used to work as intern at (even being filmed on the floor I was dispatched to the most often), so I decided that it could very well be worth my time. And, I was surprisingly right, because it not only superceeded all of my expectations and got me hyped for future projects of it's writer and director Jasna Nanut but can absolutely be ranked amongst my favorite films of the year (an honour not many comedies or Croatian titles in general recieve). And I'm not even the only one who feels this way as this was the biggest opening night the Daruvar movie theatre had in the entirety of it's existence. So what's the title of this masterpiece that had so many people dragging their gluteus maximuses in? Appropriately, it's Seventh Heaven (Sedmo nebo).

Initially I had little to no interest in seeing this film. As I had mentioned in the previous paragraph I don't particularly care for Balkan comedies or share a sense of humor these screenwriters and directors seem to have and comedies are rarely my genre of choice in general, no matter which country they originate from. However, the leaflets being handed out in front of the cinema where I saw it (a copy of which now proudly sits in my personal archives) in promised not only a fun experiance, but also a chance of meeting some of the cast and crew behind the curtains, which actually peaked my interest enough to decide to give the final product a watch, hoping that the film would end up being atleast watchable or simply just ok.

I, however, did not expect that the movie will end up having as much heart, soul and effort put into it as it ended up having and I had never been more glad to give a try to something that's outside of my usual comfort zone in most aspects. The public seems to agree as the entirety of the hall was busting their guts at almost every other line. Afterwards I got the opportunity to talk a tad bit to the BTS crew and it's very clear that they had a real passion for the final version of the story and that the atmosphere on set was very warm and filled with so much utter positivity that even a brooding pessimist like myself couldn't help but smile at the anecdotes they shared regarding the filming process and all of it's stages. I truly have nothing but high hopes and praises for Nanut's future directorial and screenwriting efforts and I have a feeling that she really is the new face of contemporary Croatian comedy.

So, let's take a brief look into what makes this title stand out, shall we?

(1) The Writing

My main problem with comedy as a genre in it's entirety is that it's writing is usually too over the top, goofy, grossly exaggerated and just plain unrealistic. It's not that there aren't books, movies, shows or comics in that genre that I don't enjoy, it's more like they're very rare, given that I have and oddly specific type of humor that very few pieces of media tend to fall into. What I'm trying to say in this overly long introduction, however, is that I'm very picky when it comes to my comedies, so it's a geniune surprise when one does actually manage to make me laugh out loud or even smirk. Thankfully, Seventh Heaven manages to be a competently written, hysterical and even slightly warm tale of lies and marital infidelity, all of which reflect the painful and tiring aspects of living in the weird, wild and conservative society that is 21st century Croatia like no other film made in that country after it's independence has been able to do.

Every line, character interaction and their conflicting views of not only the situation at hand, but the larger world they inabit as well, manages to create a unique and satisfactory melting pot that both reflects reality and remains gutburstingly funny. This improves on another problem I have with most comedies, that being the disconnect from reality they posses. Yes, I'm aware comedies are supposed to be absurdist exagerrations of the real world and the people residing in it, however, the problem is that we're talking about a very thin line here. A well executed comedy, in my opinion, should, at the same time, remain firmly grounded in reality, whilst also managing to poke fun at that very reality through it's relatability to the viewer or reader. This is why I preffer comedy dramas over straight up comedies, as they offer both geniune stakes and a degree of realism and groundedness, whilst also not being afraid to sacrifice either the laughs or the thrills.

And this is exactly the aspect Seventh Heaven suceeds at. At it's core, it's a surprisingly messed up movie about midlife crisis, male infidelity and increasing paranoia the perpetrator experiances, however it's also a geniunenly hysterical and light hearted flick that doesn't stop being geniunely entertaining and laugh enducing for a second.

On a sidenote, whilst only tangentially related to the main subject of this paragraph, I'd like to highlight how this film uses one of the comedy genres most imporant elements: the improvisation. It's been the secret to success to many great names and titles in the genre, however, in my honest opinion, it's very hard to pull off and have it come off as not only well executed and natural, but make it work within the context of the picture. A superb example of this working is the famous Why male models? sequence in Ben Stiller, Drake Shater and John Hamburg's cult classic Zoolander (2001) where Stiller improvised due to the fact that he forgot his line. However, very few such moments geniunely work, atleast to my particular taste. Fortunately, Seventh Heaven is a piece of media where improv not only exists, but also shines, which is especially apparent in what's probably the whole films' most famous sequence in which our lead, Ninoslav and his mistress Tamara go to a phytotherapy session at the Daruvar thermae. All of the lines spoken to Tamara by the therapist were purely improvised, as originally, the whole sequence was supposed to rely on Tamara making goofy and suggestive noises, however, his very calm and matter of fact matter of fact delivery of some local trivia and the rest of his lines, makes that scene much funnier, with the comedy only being increased by Iva Jerković Oreški's playing along with the situation.

Overall, this film manages to check off every single check a great comedy should in my book, which, is a rare thing for this genre to achieve with me.

(2) The Cast

What's a truly well written comedy without a fantastic cast? You'll be schocked to learn that it's a poorly acted well written comedy. I'll pause here so you let that fantastic joke sink in... You done? Ok good, now continue reading.

Just like many Croatian comedies have a severe case of lacking good writing, they also severly lack good performances. Don't get me wrong, it's not that we don't have exceptionally talented actors around here, it's that we have far more weak actors than geniuenely competent ones, thus finding good fits for both dramas and comedies alike is very tough and many movies and shows, thusly end up recieving the short end of the stick.

One of the main reasons I went into this film was the fact that the lead was played by Krešimir Mikić, who is undoubtedley my favorite Croatian actor, along with Goran Navojec and Ozren Grabarić. Time and time again he has showed impecable talent on both screen and stage when it comes to performing both comedic and dramatic roles with projects such as TV shows like the miniseries Road Patrol (Patrola na cesti), docudrama Age of the Uskoks (Doba uskoka), dramedy Black and white world (Crno-bijeli svijet) and the thriller The Paper (Novine) as well as movies like the period piece The Diary of Diana B (Dnevnik Diane Budisavljević) and the black comedy satyre Fine dead girls (Fine mrtve djevojke). Now, of course, he did a fantastic job like always, however, he by no means gave my favorite performance in the flick.

That honour goes to Nikša Butijer's role as the lead's kum (which translates as both godfather and best man and the movie never clearly explains which of the two he is exactly), the quirky and out there composer and actor Dinko Brguljan. His performance was not only the funniest, but also felt the most theatrical, which is appropriate given that his character is supposed to be an actor. It was appropriately goofy and over the top, without coming off as annoying or passing into cringe territory and was certainly the sequence that caused the most laughs in the theatre. It's definetely not only amongst the best comedic performances I ever saw in a comedy film, but by far the funniest one I've seen come out of a, not just Croatian, but also regional comedy in genral.

(3) Other Positives

This paragraph is gonna consist of other things I geniunely enjoyed about the film, however, I failed to include in either of the two I discussed previous positives in, hence why it's going to be the briefest segment.

Whilst visually most of the film isn't all that inventive, a brief sequence shot on the outskirts of Daruvar manages to wonderfully compliment that area's natural and almost ageless beauty to a T. As an avid proffesional hiker I had developed a keen love of anture, particularly in my region, so seeing it get such a warm and almost artistic shoutout was not only very rewarding, but also quite heartwarming. Yes, I know it's just a damn background, but, a beauty does not always need to stand out right in front of someone's eyes in order to still have a meaning. The whole sequence is one of the most pleasing I've seen in any Croatian film ever made.

I also quite enjoyed the film's soundtrack. Is it a bit repetative? Yeah. Perhaps I would have enjoyed a bit more if it didn't rely as much as recycling the main theme every once in a while. However, as the main theme is indeed not only fun to listen to, but also very vocally satisfying to my prefrontal cortex that I'm ready to call it not just entertaining, but even downright amazing and one of my favorite pieces of instrumental content within Croatian visual media (soundtracks created by Mystic Barbarism still reign supreme in that regard, however).

So, in the end, would I reccomend it?

I most certainly would!!! This was a very intelligently written, warm and geniunely hysterical story that adresses many sensitive and important topics and issues. Nanut's script perfectly manages to carefully encapsulate the dread and paranoia with the slightly cynical humorous side to it and combined with her daring and stunning visual direction, this title holds a very special place in my heart for me as a pop culture connsseur. If you want to see a movie that at the same time makes you think as much as it makes you laugh, this is most certainly the title for you.

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