It’s Hard to Be Nice

This second feature by Srdjan Vuletic, the former Tiger Award Winner (Summer in the Golden Valley, IFFR 2004) is, like his début, set in his hometown Sarajevo. As well as from the first film, one can see that he films with a lot of emotion, thorough observation, but also criticism. Srdjan Vuletic keeps talking about something that is close to his heart: his beloved city, and he even uses its special language and its special (sometimes bittersweet) humour.
The film is about the taxi driver Fudo (Sasa Petrovic), his wife and their child, and Fudo’s struggle for survival in cruel post-war capitalism with its new exploiters and black market rules. When Fudo decides to stop his minor criminal activities for the sake of his small family, he finds out that he is not really free to do so. His fellow taxi driver (and criminal entrepreneur) Sejo, who lent him some money (which he used to buy a new car), starts blackmailing him and asking vague and danger-related favours. When Fudo tries to refuse, he gets deeper and deeper in trouble. It is really hard to be nice and to survive in this new society full of corruption and crime. Fudo’s life has some more surprises for him to deal with. But life (or the director) treats all those ups and downs with warmth – and a pinch of humour. (LC)

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