Were Jeunet Et Caro To Move To Belgrade, CHARLESTON AND VENDETTA Would Be The Result.

Many, many thanks to Twitch reader Milos for pointing me in the director of Charleston and Vendetta, the long in production and hotly anticipated film debut by young Serbian director Uroš Stojanović.  The film has slowly been wending its way through a complicated post production process and is finally due for release in its native land in early 2008.  Here’s the synopsis:

Serbia in the 1920s, after The First World War - a beautiful, brutal land, suspended between East and West, between ancient magic and the forces of civilization. High in the mountains of this mysterious, battle-scarred country lays the village of Pokrp, whose men folk have been eradicated by generations of war. A village of lovelorn women, starving for men. When sisters Little Boginja and Ognjenka inadvertently kill Pokrp’s sole surviving male, a death sentence at the hands of the womenfolk seems certain. But they are granted a reprieve, on the condition that they find a living, virile man and bring him back to the village. Under the watchful eye of their grandmother’s soul, the feisty but innocent pair set out into the big, wide world. Lust, love, a hot-headed strongman and Belgrade’s lecherous dance hall king await them…

Our own Goran adds some interesting technical notes:

The film cost over 4 million euros to produce (about US$6 million) and is scheduled to premiere on January 30 at Sava Centar in Belgrade.  Katarina Radivojević (“Zona Zamfirova”) and Sonja Kolačarić are in the leads, but what’s of note is the return to the big screen of Olivera Katarina (“I Even Met Happy Gypsies,” 1967) - a veteran Serbian actress who hasn’t starred in a movie in over three decades. She’s playing a ghost in this one.  The score for “Charleston and Vendetta” was composed by none other than Shigeru Umebayashi (“In the Mood for Love”, “2046”, “My Blueberry Nights”). He also wrote a song for Olivera Katarina, which she performed in the movie.

The trailers for this are positively astounding, the film playing like an absurdly dark fairy tale in a world charged with the miraculous while also explicitly based in Serbia’s very bloody history.  To create a world that balances wonder against a backdrop of constant war is a difficult task but Stojanović looks to have pulled it off flawlessly, the man is obviously a hugely talented technical director with a stunning visual style.  This just looks really, really good.  There are two trailer for the film - the original one posted on the official website more than a year ago while the film was still early in post, and a new one that shows off more of the technical whiz-bang.  You’ll find both embedded below the break.