A very carefully composed film, with a message so austere, stark and frankly honest that it could only have been filmed in black and white. If you want to have a fun night out with some easy 'feel-good' entertainment, see another film.
Set in a remote Yugoslavian village in 1948, when Tito broke away from Stalinist orthodoxy, the film does not in any way involve itself with the ideological differences between these political tendencies, it shows only the inherent treacherousness of political relationships.
From the opening scene, which slowly pans across a harsh and barren mountain range, to the accompaniment of a mournful chant, and then turns to the summary arrest of a peasant, before moving to a wedding procession making its way through the hills, it becomes clear that one is in for a disturbing and painful film. But the brilliance of the film lies in the fact that it does not degenerate into a series of blood soaked cliches. Instead it develops an atmosphere of impending tragedy, where the guests have to pretend that they are enjoying themselves, while the celebration is actually taking place in the darkening shadows cast by the harbingers of impending misfortune. The story, scenery, the rhythmic dancing and the haunting sound-track complement each other exceptionally well in a complex film that has many pauses and silences for reflection.
The political situation, and the wedding celebration are used as allegories to expose the ugly core of power, and the base instincts of 'humanity', and not only in a political sense. When one considers the horrendous civil war that was to overcome this country several decades after it was made, this film sounds a chillingly prophetic note of warning, with a relevance that transcends this specific situation.
