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Ustav Republike Hrvatske: Ljubavna priča o mržnji. (The Constitution), dir. Rajko Grlić, 2016. Zagreb, Blitz D.O.O. 90 min. Color. Croatian.
The Constitution weaves together several of the topics that dominate the public discourse of the western Balkans nowadays: matters of co-existence and intolerance, extreme nationalism, living together in the aftermath of an extreme split, but also issues of gender identity, homophobia, intra-generational communication, care for the elderly, responsibility to parents, and class divisions.
The story evolves between four characters who live in the same old apartment building in Zagreb. On the one hand, there is Vjeko Kralj, a fifty-something history teacher by day and a cross-dresser by night, mouring the loss of his long-time lover to suicide. At home, Kralj is taking care of his elderly bed-ridden father who is a retired Ustasa officer, homophobic and violent even if incapacitated. In public Vjeko is often the victim of homophobic attacks. On the other hand, there is the childless, mixed-ethnic couple, Maja and Ante (a Serbian man who has changed his name and is now preparing to take a Constitution exam), who together gradually befriend Vjeko.
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