When Father Was Away on Business

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When Father Was Away on Business
Directed by Emir Kusturica
Produced by Mirza Pašić
Written by Abdulah Sidran
Starring Moreno De Bartolli
Miki Manojlović
Mirjana Karanović
Mustafa Nadarević
Mira Furlan
Davor Dujmović
Predrag Laković
Pavle Vujisić
Music by Zoran Simjanović
Cinematography Vilko Filač
Editing by Andrija Zafranović
Release date(s) Flag of West Germany September 12, 1985
Flag of the United States October 11, 1985
Running time 136 min.
Language Serbo-Croat
Gross revenue $25,053 (West Germany only)
$16,131 (USA only)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

When Father Was Away on Business (Serbo-Croatian: Otac na službenom putu: ljubavno istorijski film, Отац на службеном путу) is a 1985 Yugoslavian film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by Abdulah Sidran. Its subtitle is A Historical Love Film.

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[edit] Plot

Set in post-World War II Bosnia during the Informbiro period, the film tells the story through the eyes of a young boy Malik whose father Meša (played by Miki Manojlović) has been suspected of working for Cominform and sent to a labor camp after a careless remark about a political newspaper cartoon.

The movie opens in June 1950 with a local serenading field workers with Mexican songs because it's "safer" as the children climb trees and play around.

The story is from the perspective of the boy, Malik, who is led to believe that his father is on a business trip. Malik is a chronic sleepwalker.

After a while, Meša's wife and children rejoin him in Zvornik, where Malik meets Maša, the daughter of a Russian doctor. He falls in love with her, last sees her when the ambulance takes her away.

At the wedding of his uncle, Malik witnesses his father's affair with the pilotess, who afterwards tries to kill herself with the toilet's flush cord. Sena reconciles with her brother, who's been diagnosed with diabetes.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Awards

The film took home two awards from the Cannes Film Festival in 1985 including the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) and the FIPRESCI Prize, while also being nominated for the 1985 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Paris, Texas
Palme d'Or
1985
Succeeded by
The Mission
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