The High Sun

Boy and girl are in love, but can’t be together because of their different origins. The story of Romeo and Juliet is universal, but especially poignant when set in 1990s Yugoslavia. Against the background of the Balkan Wars, this film tells of not one, but three doomed love affairs. In 1991, at the start of the conflict, Jelena and Ivan want to escape their oppressive village life, but her brother stands in the way. Ten years later, Ante and Natasa don’t succeed in celebrating the peace. And yet another decade later, the national trauma still reverberates in the lives of Luka and Marija.
At the Cannes Film Festival, where the film won the jury prize in the section Un Certain regard, critics unanimously judged this to be Dalibor Matanic’s best film so far. Part of that praise is definitely to the merit of Tihana Lazovic and Goran Markovic, who play all three couples. Who is Croatian and who is Serbian isn’t always clear. But who gets emotionally hurt is.