| When Father Was Away on Business | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Emir Kusturica |
| Written by | Abdulah Sidran |
| Produced by | Mirza Pašić |
| Starring | Moreno De Bartoli Miki Manojlović Mirjana Karanović Mustafa Nadarević Mira Furlan Davor Dujmović Predrag Laković Pavle Vujisić |
| Cinematography | Vilko Filač |
| Edited by | Andrija Zafranović |
| Music by | Zoran Simjanović |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Scotia International Filmverleih (1985) (West Germany) Cannon Film Distributors (USA) (subtitled) Hollydan Works (2007-2008) (Non-US) Koch Lorber Films (2005) (USA) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 136 minutes |
| Country | Yugoslavia |
| Language | Serbo-Croatian |
| Box office | $25,053(West Germany only) $16,131(USA only)[1] |
When Father Was Away on Business (Serbo-Croatian:Otac na službenom putu,Отац на службеном путу) is a 1985Yugoslav film by directorEmir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the dramatistAbdulah Sidran. Its subtitle isA Historical Love Film and it was produced by Centar Film and Forum, production companies based in Sarajevo.
Set in post-World War IIYugoslavia during theInformbiro period, the film tells the story from theperspective of a boy, Malik, whose father Meša (Miki Manojlović) was sent to alabour camp.When Father Was Away on Business won thePalme d'Or at the1985 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In June 1950, a local neighbourhood drunk, Čika Franjo, serenades field workers. He singsMexican songs out of self-preservation, figuring it's safer for him to steer clear of songs originating from either of the two dominant globalsuperpowers—theUnited States and theSoviet Union—in the prevailing climate of theCold War.Yugoslavia is experiencing a paranoid and repressive internal apparatus looking to identify and removeenemies of the state in the wake of theTito–Stalin Split. The local children, including Malik, climb trees and play around. Malik's mother, Sena, tells him that his father is on a business trip, while Malik is a chronic sleepwalker. His father, communist functionary Meša, was, in fact, sent to a labour camp by his own brother-in-law, Sena's brother Zijo, who is an even higher-positioned Communist functionary. Meša had made a remark about a political cartoon regarding the Tito–Stalin Split in thePolitika newspaper.
Malik gets circumcised by his father's brother. (Apparently these people are Muslims, because if they were Jewish he would have been circumcised as a newborn.)
After a while, Meša's wife and children rejoin him inZvornik. Malik meets and falls in love with Maša, the daughter of a Russian doctor, but last sees her when an ambulance takes her away.
At the wedding of his maternal uncle Fahro, Malik witnesses his father's affair with a woman pilot. She later tries to commit suicide by using a toilet's flush cord. Sena reconciles with her brother Zijah, who has been diagnosed with diabetes.
The writerDanilo Kiš described the film as "an artistic and moral endeavour."[2]
InThe New York Times,Janet Maslin credited the film for "a humorous, richly detailed portrait" of its characters.[3]Time criticRichard Corliss said the film was worth seeing despite the lack of glamorous settings or characters.[4]Variety staff called it "rather witty commentary" and compared it toCzechoslovak comedy films in the 1960s.[5]John Simon of theNational Review described When Father Was Away on Business as "a film of undaunted honesty and unswerving intelligence, borne out aloft by humor, heartache, satire and compassion-an unbeatable combination".[6]
In his2015 Movie Guide,Leonard Maltin awarded it three and a half stars, praising it as "Captivating".[7] In 2016,The Hollywood Reporter ranked it the 26th best film to win thePalme d'Or, citing it for depicting how "humor and the almost mystical power of family trumps all."[8]
When Father Was Away on Business markedEmir Kusturica's first time winning thePalme d'Or, the highest honour at theCannes Film Festival. He won his second in 1995 forUnderground.[9]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 24 March 1986 | Best Foreign Language Film | Emir Kusturica | Nominated | [10] |
| Cannes Film Festival | 8 – 20 May 1985 | Palme d'Or | Won | [11] | |
| FIPRESCI Prize | Won | ||||
| David di Donatello | 1985 | Best Foreign Director | Nominated | [12] | |
| Golden Globes | 24 January 1986 | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | [13] | |
| National Board of Review | 27 January 1986 | Top Foreign Films | Won | [14] | |
| Pula Film Festival | 20–27 July 1985 | Big Golden Arena for Best Film | Won | [15] | |
| Golden Arena for Best Actress | Mirjana Karanović | Won | [16] |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
