Montenegro (1981)

Director:

Dusan Makavejev

Writers:

Donald Arthur (writer)
Dusan Makavejev (writer)

Release Date:

9 October 1981 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Or Pigs and Pearls

Plot:

A bored wealthy housewife on the verge of insanity cuts loose with some lively Yugoslavian immigrants who delight in their bohemian lifestyle.

Plot Keywords:

Housewife | Customs | Airport | Gypsy | Bored Housewife

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Susan Anspach	...	Marilyn Jordan
Erland Josephson	...	Martin Jordan
Marianna Jacobi	...	Cookie Jordan
James Marsh	...	Jimmy Jordan (as Jamie Marsh)
John Zacharias	...	Grandpa Bill
Per Oscarsson	...	Dr. Aram Pazardjian
Marina Lindahl	...	Secretary
Bora Todorovic	...	Alex Rossignol
Lisbeth Zachrisson	...	Rita Rossignol
Svetozar Cvetkovic	...	Montenegro
Patricia Gélin	...	Tirke
Dragan Ilic	...	Hassan
Nikola Janic	...	Mustapha
Mile Petrovic	...	Zanzi Bar Customer
John Parkinson	...	Piano Player

Also Known As:

Montenegro - Or Pigs and Pearls
Montenegro eller Pärlor och Svin (Sweden)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Sweden | UK

Language:

English | Swedish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Certification:

Norway:18 (1981) | Iceland:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Europa Studios, Bromma, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Europa Film

Quotes:

Jimmy Jordan: I read in the papers yesterday about a man in France who entered a snail eating competition.
[slurps spaghetti]
Jimmy Jordan: He ate a hundred and seventy-eight snails... and then he dropped dead.
Grandpa Bill: [mouth full] Only a Frenchman could die like that. I would rather be shot on my 101st birthday... by a jealous husband.
Martin Jordan: You see, he plans to stay with us another 17 years.
Grandpa Bill: At least!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Seriously Funny: An Argument for Comedy" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Gimme A Little Kiss

One of the best movies you never heard of.

This is a nihilist black comedy about the emptiness of success and riches.

Susan Anspach is an American housewife, 40ish, married to a rich Swede, and living in a palatial Stockholm seaside residence. She's bored and frustrated. Her father-in-law is 80ish and auditioning wives. Her children are helping their grandfather with the auditions. Her husband is always out of town, and when he's in town he won't sleep with her. Gradually, her behavior is becoming more and more erratic.

When she is denied permission to board a plane to Brazil (because she tried to carry oversized gardening shears on board), she falls in with some struggling Yugoslavian immigrants, and is attracted by their zestful, lusty craziness.

This movie is completely nihilistic. All of the characters are painted in very broad comic brushstrokes, ala Dr. Strangelove, and the sets and situations border on the surrealistic. (There's even a dysfunctional clock homage to Dali's "Persistence of Memory")

This is one odd movie, but I liked it a lot. One cannot expect the characters to behave as people really would, but the movie is energetic and hilarious in sections, erotic in other sections, and the production values are impressive.

This was made in 1981. The director never really made a brilliant movie, but he should have. There is so much talent in evidence here.