Gorilla Bathes at Noon (1993)

A major of Red Army is late for the train that takes Soviet's forces from Berlin. He telephones to Moscow and finds out that his wife has left him and that someone has moved in his ... See full summary »

Director:

Dusan Makavejev

Writer:

Dusan Makavejev

Stars:

Svetozar Cvetkovic, Anita Mancic, Alexandra Rohmig

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Svetozar Cvetkovic	...	Lazutkin
Anita Mancic	...	Miki Miki / Lenin
Alexandra Rohmig	...	German Girl
Petar Bozovic	...	Trandafil
Andreas Lucius	...	Policeman
Eva Ras	...	Miki Miki's Mother
Davor Janjic	...	Bum 1
Zoran Ratkovic	...	Bum 2
Suleyman Boyraz	...	Turk
Natasa Babic-Zoric	...	Frau Schmidt
Aleksandar Davic	...	Dealer
Alfred Holighaus	...	Journalist

Storyline

A major of Red Army is late for the train that takes Soviet's forces from Berlin. He telephones to Moscow and finds out that his wife has left him and that someone has moved in his apartment. He decides to stay in Berlin and does so by staying in no man's lend between two Berlins. His only property is small tea-urn, parade uniform and white bicycle. His first contacts are with black market and underground. And while he makes first moves in the game of survival, we're getting to know his past.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to lenin | zoo | wheeler dealer | turkish | tiger | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Connections

Features The Fall of Berlin (1950)

User Reviews

Headless

Sometimes a movie is relatively random, I think.

In the case of "Sweet Movie" and "Coca Cola" this added value. Its more than quirky charm, its the magic of being thrown a different logic and asked to juggle it using ordinary hands.

But in this case, it seems to have escaped what we can do, so the balls are just thrown at us, determined to simply fall on the floor.

There is power here, and I suppose especially for someone who suffered under Soviet despotism. Its at the end, where our preparation for lost soldier pays off. There is an amazing sequence at the end of a huge cold war statue of Lenin in East Berlin being carefully decapitated and carted off. Its captivating. This is preceded by a romance with a redhead who spends half her time in dreams dressed as Lenin.

Interspersed with this is footage from a Soviet film of the capture of Berlin, glories tooting loudly, good comrades beaming.

It almost works. The title comes from the method of survival. Our lost soldier gets his food by stealing from the animals at the zoo, presumably at noon.

The film ends with our character trying to sell his Soviet uniform at the Brandenburg gate. The voice of the filmmaker is heard asking if we wonder why main character spoke English and everyone else their native tongue (mostly German and Russian). Why it because, the narrator says, because he's an actor!

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Details

Country:

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Germany

Language:

English Russian German

Release Date:

11 February 1993 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

Gorilla Bathes at Noon

Filming Locations:

Belgrade, Serbia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alert Film, Ekstaza, Von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion (VVF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1