The most watched domestic film is actually… quite good

A few days ago, I watched a new domestic romantic comedy in the cinema with the crew, which, damn it, became the most watched domestic film of all time (in second place is Brešan’s work How the war began on my island, which has a cult status in our and regional cinematography). As someone who has been trying to follow and financially support Croatian film for years (I will die claiming that I have the best film and television offer in the region), whether it is documentary, feature, animated or experimental works, I was glad to see that so many people flock to a local production with such pleasure and that I shared that experience with my friends.

Now, about the movie. It’s about a high-quality, relaxing and above all fun combination of stupid jokes that we’ve heard a million times with some really clever jokes and well-incorporated visual gags that come together in a pleasant way, creating a comedy in which really everyone can find something to laugh at. The cast is great and you can really see that everyone on the set had a great time, and visually the film looks wonderful. The only real criticism I have is that the ending was too rushed, but I can still put it near the top of domestic and regional commercial cinema.

Do I think that domestic cinema needs more crowd pleasers like this, and less depressing arthouse dramas and abstract experimental comedies? Probably many will disagree with me, but not really. Arthouse dramas and intelligent comedies have their audience and that’s why they get so many awards and accolades at festivals. Crowd pleasers like Svadba have their audience and will find a place in their hearts, and it’s perfectly fine to stick to phenomena that will appear once or twice a year (besides, I’d rather not imitate our neighbors and start drowning in gray commercialization and copying Hollywood).

Overall, a fun and memorable title that is among the better achievements of its kind in domestic cinematography.