Cinema
Rhythm of a Crime
Ritam zločina
Zoran Tadić · 1981
Synopsis
Zagreb, 1981, in the old Trnje district, slated for demolition. Ivica, a teacher of history and geography, lives alone in his low house, soon to be razed, and takes in Fabijan, a retired surveyor, as a lodger. Fabijan has one passion: he records every crime committed in Trnje and in the city, and claims to calculate its rhythm. Ivica does not believe it, then begins to doubt when Fabijan predicts several crimes in the neighbourhood, while he renews ties with Zdenka, a love from long ago.
Context
Released on 15 June 1981, it runs eighty-nine or ninety minutes. Pavao Pavličić wrote the screenplay from his own story, Dobri duh Zagreba, a title that appears in the credits; the director altered the text considerably and added the characters of Ivica and Zdenka. Shot in black and white on 16 mm with minimal means, with cinematography by Goran Trbuljak, it has as its music a Balada iz predgrađa by Hrvoje Hegedušić. The two men in it bear the first names of their performers, Ivica Vidović and Fabijan Šovagović; Božidarka Frajt plays Zdenka.
Who it is for
An hour and a half, in Croatian, in real suburban settings; a genre film that leaves room for doubt.
Prizes and reception
First feature film of its director and the best of his work; regarded from the eighties as one of the great Yugoslav films, sixth in the 2020 survey.
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