Hotel Jugoslavija

The story of the documentary sounds interesting but unfortunately the documentary has many disabling flaws that. The interviews were a highlight but many of them could of been edited and added to make a more cohesive narrative. Many confusing elements are added with little explanation. There is a scene taken from a recent action film (in English though I did not recognise it)clearly showcasing the hotel but with little context and no explanation.

The documentary also goes through a clichéd explanation of the communist Teto era of Yugoslavia with no nuance.

The director repeatedly refers to his childhood visiting the country and staying at the hotel but in such a way that it becomes little more than trivia which apparently is the foundation of this documentary!

Overall I wish it focused more on the history of the hotel and what the people think about it. Many of the shots of the abandoned hotel I quite enjoyed but do locals view it as a derelict site of a history they would rather forget or as an important landmark that should be restored to its former glory. I wouldn't know.

I think this documentary is not for everyone. It's an artistic piece and i love the fact that it doesn't go too deep in to the history of it. It rather shows a timeline of the Hotel - the beginning, during Tito's time, time of Tito's death, pre war time, war time, after war time and today. I think the director is trying to show the Hotel as a symbol of a short era that was Jugoslavija and raises a question what it represents today. The answer to this question he leaves to the viewers.