The protagonist of the film, Nikolai, is a tenacious father who measures the country with his peaceful and tenacious character and explores the boundaries between right and wrong.
The Serbian film "A Father's Way to Find a Son" opens with a striking scene: a woman with two children, begging for the factory's arrears of wages, and then pouring gasoline all over her body and setting herself on fire, fortunately extinguished in time, survived. But for her husband Nikolai, the misfortune had only just begun.
Nikolai was a small, resigned man who had been laid off two years earlier, had not received the remaining wages and severance payments promised by the factory, and had only worked as a temporary worker in the woods such as cutting down trees, and was poor and hungry, so that his wife had made radical moves. What surprised him even more was that the welfare center had to evaluate his family to see if he was eligible to continue to raise a son and a daughter.
The director of the welfare center pretended to think that Nikolai's housing conditions were very poor, and before the assessment, he could first improve it, such as painting the walls, connecting electricity, connecting water pipes, and so on. Nikolai had to borrow a neighbor's meter to light the lights and try to install a faucet to get water. In fact, the center simply did not pass the assessment, on the grounds that Nikolai's status as a temporary worker made it difficult for the welfare center to believe that he could provide a minimum subsistence for the children financially. The two children were eventually sentenced to be held indefinitely by foster families.
Behind the seemingly concern for the children, the film tells Nikolai insider through the mouth of the security guard of the welfare center: the director sends all the children to the relatives and friends in his village, and the state will subsidize each child with 40,000 yuan, there are more than 30 children, and he takes 30% of the money from each child. If you're going to sue him, he has acquaintances in the court. Nikolai had gone on a hunger strike in protest, but the director had a stern tone: "We will call the police and say that you have a bad attitude and hinder our work." We can also assess you as unreasonable and suicidal as your wife. This is the power that the law gives me, and it is under my control here, not yours. ”
In a revealing way, the film makes corrupt officials lawless and domineering in the name of the law, and the little people seem to have no way to do anything, but Nikolai is an exception. Director Golubović tells a bizarre story with a gentle rhythm. Nikolai decided to go to the capital Belgrade to complain, he did not have money to buy a ticket, but actually walked 300 kilometers, from the small village near Greb - Priboye where he lived, over the Avara Mountains, walked for 5 days, and arrived at the destination, showing a father's determination to regain his children.
Nikolai took a bag with him on the road, which contained a blanket, a loaf of bread and a bottle of water, and a long shot followed him through highways, old villages, woods and hillsides; in the aerial shot, the wilderness and mountains made him look small; in the handheld camera lens, shaking and walking on the road showed his exhaustion; at night, in the dim background, he curled up in a blanket and felt helpless; in the morning, the bright light made him pluck up the courage to move forward... With no music and only natural sound, the film is extremely realistic.
The characteristics of the road film make Nikolai encounter all kinds of people and things along the way: because he is walking on the highway, he is stopped by the police; he meets a stray dog and dies; the stowaway is willing to help him free of charge; squirrels and wolves haunt the jungle; he faints on the side of the road, is admitted to the hospital, and the patient warns that "it is not worth paying for others"; encounters with thieves; convenience store overnight... The fragmentary scenes are not only a rich and diverse display of Nikolai's own journey, but also a manifestation of Serbian social landscape and human condition.
It's hard not to be impressed by Nikolai's actor Goran Bogdan, who was nominated for Best Actor at the 33rd European Film Awards. Nikolai was taciturn and unsentimental, but the scene of the stray dog buried highlighted his tenderness; when he arrived in Belgrade and the well-meaning people gave him food, he choked with excitement — all grievances were cathartic. Nikolai was determined, tenacious, and stubborn, appealing on foot, and it was not necessary to meet the Minister in the Ministry of Social Affairs. After several prevarications, the assistant minister agreed to meet after Nikolai's television interview came to light and wrote a letter recommending the return of the child.
It's not a film that ends off, and the director of the welfare center doesn't change everything because of the letter of recommendation, he said: "This letter is not binding, it's just a suggestion from the government, even if the president writes a letter of recommendation, it's useless, or the center has the final say." Subsequently, the director sets up a series of outrageous scenes: Nikolai comes home, the house is empty, everything is taken away by the neighbors, and he retrieves his own belongings that others are using— televisions, tables, chairs, dishes, clocks... This may imply that if you want to take back what you have, you have to do it yourself. Nikolai will never give up on the return of the child. (Liu Weixin)