Man Is Not a Bird
Yugoslav filmmaker Dušan Makavejev was a radical who changed the film landscape of the 60s and 70s. His work is characterised by a freedom of form, the breaking of political and sexual taboos, and anti-narratives, often with surrealist and documentary elements.
“Man Is Not a Bird” is a daring debut feature film by Makavejev who was previously known for short films and documentaries. It tells of the love lives of two not-so-heroic men working in a copper factory. The action involves a polluted mining town, hypnosis, a bar brawl, a turbo-engine, and a Beethoven concert. The main storyline focuses on the love affair between Jan Rudinski (Janez Vrhovec), an engineer sent to the town, and Rajka (Milena Dravić), a young hairdresser.
The film was awarded at the Pula Film Festival and Vrhovec won the Silver Arena Best Actor Award.
Kati Vuks
Dušan Makavejev (1932) died 2019. He was a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s — many of which belong to the Black Wave. He studied psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy and then directing at the Academy of Theater, Film, Radio and TV in Belgrade. Makavejev made his name with the short films ""Smile 61"", ""Down with the Fences"" and ""Parade"". He directed ten full-length feature films. His most internationally successful film was the 1971 political satire ""W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism"", which he both directed and wrote. His films have won a number of prestigious international and domestic awards.
Filmography:
valik/selected: Čovek nije ptica (Man is Not a Bird, 1965), Ljubavni slučaj ili tragedija službenice P.T.T. (Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator, 1967), W.R. – Misterije organizma (W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism, 1971), Sweet Movie (1974), Montenegro (1981), The Coca-Cola Kid (1985)