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INTERVIEW
WITH JAN CVITKOVIC,
WRITER-DIRECTOR OF BREAD AND MILK
Why
did Bread and Milk end up being 68 minutes long?
The film was initially supposed to be a short. I believe in long and
intensive preparations before shooting, including a lot of improvisations,
so we discovered many new situations and relations between the characters,
and the film started to expand before we started shooting. At a certain
point I decided that I would not think about the length of the film at
all, and just make the film that I wanted to make.
And
why black and white?
Every film story needs a suitable visual form. We did tests before
shooting. The best result was when shooting on colour 16mm film and then
blowing it up on 35mm black and white film. So we got an ugly, non-contrast,
more grey and white, than black and white: perfect picture for that kind
of story. Ugly, tough and poetic at the same time.
How
comic do you consider Bread and Milk - and how political?
In certain points it's very comic. In other points, it's very tragic.
It’s lifelike. It’s not so much political, it’s just an ironic take on
the general situation in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia.
What
is your connection with Tolmin? How did you find the Tavern?
I spent my youth in Tolmin, mostly in the Taverna.
How
did the locals feel about the film?
Most of the film characters in the bar were the locals. They know
that this is their reality. The town has 4000 people. There were 3500
tickets sold for Bread and Milk. Only babies and tetraplegics stayed
at home.
Did
you write the graffiti on the wall yourself (“If this town is Eden, then
the Tavern is the apple”) or was it already there?
The graffiti was already there - yes, the locals have their special
sense of humor as well.
You
are well known as a vocal supporter of the Slovenian national football
team. What is your view of the team, now that they’ve qualified for their
first World Cup? Do you like any British football teams?
The Slovenian football team announces to the world a new Slovenian
mentality: free, unbreakable and, above all, with sense of humor. Mladen
Rudonja (who scored the most important goal against Romania) was voted
the best Slovene player ever. People in England probably don't know him,
but he’s a pure attacker, though in all his previous 53 matches for the
national team didn't score a single goal.
How
can Rudonja be such a ‘pure attacker’ if he didn’t score in 53 games?
Rudonja has a great sense of humor, that's way he didn't score for
so long.Regarding British football, I’m an Arsenal fan. I especially like
Adams and Keown. They have style and they can be rude. Real Englishmen!
What
do you think will happen in the World Cup?
Slovenia will make some big surprises. The final will be England vs
Italy. The result will be made by penalty kicks. One of less known English
players will be a hero.
What
is your view of the Slovenian transvestite Eurovision affair?
It’s great – all part of the new Slovenian mentality, too. No more
boring "blah blah blah - tra la la" motherfuckers.
How
do you see the state of the film industry in Slovenia?
In a last few years, Slovene films are becoming better and better,
getting prizes on the festivals all over the world. The sad thing is that
the goverment, which is financing the film industry, doesn't react in
a proper way. They aren’t aware of the opportunities available to us at
the moment, so we have a real contradiction: Slovene films have never
been so succesful than now, but we’ve never been given such a small amount
of money to keep going. Anyway, in the next 10 years, the Slovene film
industry will be a small "boom" in Europe. I know what I’m talking
about - I know some extremely talented filmmakers and I’ve read some excellent
scripts.
Who
are these ‘extremely talented film-makers from Slovenia’?
- Janez Burger (Idle Running, 1999, which has won around 20
international awards). He’s making a new film this year.
- Andrej Zumbergar (his experimental feature film Unrest is in
post-production).
- Damjan Kozole (Pornofilm, 199?), He is shooting new film right
now, an excellent script about people who smuggle refugees across the
Slovene borders.
- Igor Sterk (Express-express, which was won around 20 international
awards).
- Andrej Kosak (Outsider, 1996). His second film Headnoise is
in postproduction).
These are all guys in their mid-thirties, and they’ll be followed by some
younger talented filmmakers also.
Which
directors do you like, or consider influences?
I prefer to talk about films rather than directors: Once Were Warriors
(Tamahori), Raging Bull (Scorsese), Ko To Tamo Peva / Who
Is Singing Over There?(Slobodan Sijan), The Time of the Gypsies
(Kusturica), Stranger Than Paradise (Jarmusch), Seul Contre
Tous / Alone Against Everybody (Caspar Noe), Wild at Heart (Lynch),
Badlands (Malick), Return of the Idiot (Sasha Gedeon), anything
by Aki Kaurismaki, Funny Games (Haneke)…
I never was a film fan. Actually, I almost never go to the cinema. There
are simply too many bad films going around, and it’s hard to find a good
one. I learned to read at my very young age and since then my passion
is literature, along with some other not so "arty" things. I
was always translating words into pictures. That was my film school. And
it was a good one.
What
are these "not so arty" things are you into?
Let me have some secrets.
Why
do you make films, rather than writing books, if literature is so much
more important to you than the cinema?
I like to read books, but I don’t feel able (yet) to write one. I
don’t like to watch films so much, but I like to make them... Why do I
make films? It is the faith. When my mother was pregnant with me, she
saw a Czech film with a young character, named Jan. She named me after
him. In 1995 I was completely broke. I needed money. I heard about a contest
for the best script for a short film. The award was about $1,500. I’d
never seen a script before in my life, and I won – I said to myself, “Cool!
This is easy money.” Then my friend Janez Burger came from the Czech Republic,
where he studied film. We wrote the script for Idle Running and
I also played a main role. The film was very successful and i was already
‘poisoned’ by telling and discovering things via "moving pictures".
When I make a film, I am a better person: more intuitive, thinking, tolerant,
patient and sensitive than usual. I enjoy fascinating people with my ideas
and making them feel it's their idea, too. I enjoy seeing an individual
giving more, than anyone expected from him. I enjoy connecting reality
and fiction. Many locals and my friends were acting in Bread and Milk
for very special reasons, that only i know. The process of filmmaking
for me is an opportunity to observe myself and world, from a larger distance.
What
project are you working on now?
I am writing a script for a feature film about a man who writes funeral
speeches, and about his family and his friends.
Why
do you admire Mike Tyson so much - and are you still a fan after his recent
antics?
Mike Tyson is a symbol of my generation – born in 1966. He is natural:
extremely strong and extremely weak at the same time. He’s a man of momental
inspiration, with immense charisma. I've read his interviews, and he’s
also intelligent, Anyone who thinks that a boxer can be a world champion
and have no brains, well, they don’t know much about boxing. Many people
don't like him now, but in 100 years’ time people will be talking only
about one 20th century boxer - Mike Tyson. I'll remain his fan, no matter
what he does, because I understand him. He is an evil god. A Fire Horse.
Now read the
review of Bread and Milk
7th
March, 2002
by Neil
Young
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