FILM REVIEW: COWBOYS (2013, CROATIA)

By Alice Pickard

Dir: Tomislav Mršić

Original Title: Kauboji

Tomislav Mršić’s comedy Cowboys has been a massive hit in Croatia and it doesn’t take long to see why. If you’re new to Croatian cinema, as I was, do not be put off thinking that humour fails to break cultural barriers. Here it most definitely succeeds.

Saša, played by Saša Anočić, returns from the city to help his local mayor who wants him to put on a show for the people, as it has been twelve years since the town has had a theatre production. It sounds simple but his task is made infinitely harder by the “idiots”, as he refers to them, that turn up to audition. He is left with an unlikely band of clichéd characters. Amongst others we have a ‘bad’ boy, a thirty-something mummy’s boy, a dodgy tradesman, and a brother and sister country-bumpkin-type duo. A Western play is haphazardly born out of the limited film knowledge of the group.

The colourful cast that Saša musters up compensates for the dull and unvaried settings: a town hall and old-fashioned homes that we get to through grey depressing streets. This town is in need of some fun and that’s what the characters deliver. This assortment of personalities makes for great comic dialogue and some slapstick comedy, such as the vulture-imitating acting technique, which makes fun of the way we’re told to “be an animal” when starting out at acting. Toilet humour perhaps has too much of a presence, but it doesn’t spoil the rest of the film. Whilst the characters may be exaggerated, they are still easy to identify with and not so ridiculous as to become farcical.

There are cultural references, such as the joke made about not being Serbian and asserting this through saying “I’m normal”, but these are not lost on us, as most countries have similar relationships with neighbouring nations. The humour is undoubtedly Croatian but it translates well.

While Cowboys is a comedy overall, there is a more sensitive sub-plot, making it a dark one. These more sombre moments work well because they break up the humour and stop the film from becoming superficial. The serious part of the story line adds a twist to the otherwise typical happy-ending resolution. That said, it remains a feel-good film and the warmth of the characters gets through to the viewers, as the characters do on stage in their small Croatian town.

Mršić has put together a strong cast that creates a great rapport amongst the bunch of misfits. Newcomer Ivana Rushaidat (married to Rakan Rushaidat who plays Miodrag) deserves special mention for her portrayal of the uneducated Marica.

Cowboys has been incredibly well received by the Croatian people and they showed their appreciation for it at the Pula Film Festival in 2013 when it was awarded the Audience award –decided by the public.

This is a people’s film, a film that won’t tax your brainpower but will keep your attention. Entertainment at its best.

Based on the hit play of the same title by Saša Anočić.

Watch Cowboys on FilmDoo.com (UK & Ireland only)