Ljubljana

Slovenia, long part of former Yugoslavia and only an independent state since the early Nineties, produces two to three feature films a year. Films that are often about the problems of the young urban generation and the break between traditional values and new ethical principles. So too Ljubljana, situated in the country’s capital, where everyone goes to study and tries to find a place.Five young people between 20 and 25 try to find their way in life. The different stories the film tells of them are woven around the protagonist, medical student Mare, who one day discovers wild rave parties, house music and XTC pills and goes on to neglect his studies. Like many others in his generation, Mare doesn’t really know how to tackle his life.Ljubljana excels in its elliptical structure, that gives the story an interesting turn. The director Igor Sterk, in order to explain the narrative, quotes John Berger: ‘Narration must step as a human or animal does, each stride stepping over something left unsaid. This is where the essence of suspense lies not so much in the mystery of the final goal as in the mystery of the spaces between the individual steps advancing toward the final goal.’