When father was away on business

Duration: 136 mi

Year Published: 1985

Creator: Almi/Krypton

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: Kusturica's film depicts the moral and political ambiguities which prevailed in Yugoslavia after its break with Stalin. Set from the summer of 1950 to the summer of 1952, a period in which the country weathered diplomatic, economic and military threats against its independence, the film charts the fortunes of a Muslim family seen through the eyes of its six-year-old son Malik. Smalltown life proceeds slowly and predictably in tones both comic and poignant, and in traditional rituals, both Moslem and Orthodox, which persist despite official atheism. That is, until Mesa, Malik's philandering father, offhandedly criticizes an anti-Stalinist cartoon, and his politically incorrect comment is relayed from jealous mistress to local Communist official who also happens to be his brother-in-law. Mesa is sent to a labor camp and later to exile in a provincial outpost where his family is able to join him. In this remote locale, young Malik experiences his first love, his first loss and his own political recognition. The boy's inner anxieties, perhaps mirroring those of his uncertain homeland, manifest themselves in episodes of sleepwalking. (Does not circulate).