Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master

Ivan Salatić’s striking and intellectual drama finds the leader of a small group of 19th-century Montenegrin rebels forced to retreat to warmer climes in southern Italy in order to cure himself of tuberculosis. But in doing so, he longs for his homeland.

In 19th-century Montenegro, the free mountain territories are surrounded by Turkish forces, isolated from the West and steeped in conservatism, patriarchy, and superstition. Morlak, a poet and bishop inspired by the historical figure Petar II Petrović Njegoš, leads his tribe in resisting the invaders. Gravely ill, he is sent to southern Italy in search of a cure. The journey takes him to a house in Naples, a city that contrasts sharply with his homeland’s isolated hills. As Morlak contemplates his existence, his loyal servant Djuko struggles with profound nostalgia, driven by the fear of his master’s death in a foreign land.

Ivan Salatić’s Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master is a cinematic reflection on identity, displacement, and the enduring ties between individuals and the lands they call home. Set during a transformative period when concepts of statehood and belonging were in flux, the film subtly probes the contradictions of civilisation and the fragility of collective identity – questions that echo powerfully in our own time. Through its masterful use of space, light, and colour, Salatić creates a world where spoken words resonate like melodies, and each frame carries the weight of both absence and presence. A work of striking visual and emotional clarity, Salatić’s second feature explores how exile and mortality deepen the bonds to place, reminding us that the landscapes we inhabit often define us more than we realise.

– Vanja Kaludjercic

Interview

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