The "Month of European Film" opened with the production of "Substance", a French director Korali Farze in the Music Center of Montenegro in Podgorica.
She plays the main role, Elizabeth Sparkl, in "Substance". Demi Moore. The film "Substance" is a criticism of today's Hollywood, one can say also of the West and its obsession with impossible standards of beauty and youth. Of course, that Hollywood and that West, as the film illustrates, have the faces of older white men. The frames with which they are shown exude depravity. This emphasizes the irony of the reality in which men, their age and appearance, are not subject to the public eye and condemnation. However, these men dictate the standards and ask women to be forever young and just smile, otherwise - they have no value.
In patriarchy combined with capitalism, the white man profits from insecurities, because he has power, and his targets fall into a circle of suffering and attempts to achieve the impossible. In these attempts, by undergoing aesthetic procedures, women again become targets.
The film is full of body horror, grotesqueness, and the director wanted to reflect what she sees as the reality in which we live.
"The violence that I expose my body to really reflects the violence that I feel about these issues and the violence that we can do to our bodies... when you read what all women can do, to lengthen their legs, to do breasts, to go through the crazy diet that I myself practiced, they take out the ribs... all these things are so absurd, and represent a pattern from which it is impossible to escape," said the director in one of the interviews.
She also explained the monstrosity that occurs in the film's finale, which she says is a kind of liberation.
“I think the film is basically what it's like to feel monstrous no matter what you look like. Those are the first moments where she actually loves herself and looks at herself in the mirror with tenderness and love," explains Farže.
He says that this is the moment when Elizabeth feels that she is ready to go out, that she wants people to see her, and that she has her place in the world.
Just then, people are stunned. Unprepared. Because... what is scarier today than a woman who loves herself?
Stories that unite and inspire
This year, the "Month of European Film" event is being held in the hall of the Music Center and the Montenegrin Cinematheque.
"We are opening the door to Europe, not through geography and politics, but through a prism that often best illuminates the real values and essence of every society - through film," said the director of the Film Center of Montenegro. Aleksandra Božović at the opening.
Božović pointed out that through the "Month of European Film" in Montenegro, "we are creating an opportunity to look at the world through the eyes of European artists, their cultures and their stories, even for a moment."
"This makes us the first country in Europe to dedicate an entire month to European cinema in cinemas and cultural centers across the country," she emphasizes.
During November, audiences in Podgorica, Pljevlja, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Nikšić, Kotor and other cities will have the opportunity to enjoy award-winning films "that bring relevant topics and unique perspectives of European artists".
"Some of these films won the biggest awards, but what is really valuable is the opportunity for us to reflect, talk and maybe even change through them. This month is more than a film program. It is also an opportunity for the meeting of cultures, exchange of ideas and understanding of the diversity that connects our peoples", she pointed out.
Director of the Montenegrin Cinematheque, Pavle Simonović, says that in 2024, Europe more than successfully continued to amaze with its fantastic film diversity.
"With films that provoke, question, lead us to reflect on our everyday decisions, paths, desires, and what exactly we will see tonight in the screening of the film "Substance" by the French director Korali Farža", says Simonović.
He says that it is for these reasons that this year we decided to go "a step higher", and that under the auspices of the European Film Academy, the Film Center of Montenegro, the Cinematheque of Montenegro and the newly founded Network of Cinematographers of Montenegro, they selected and organized a program that is unique in Europe since the event "Month of European Film" was organized.
Božović believes that the audience will enjoy the unique opportunity to discover European film and "stories that unite and inspire us".
"I hope that together we will continue to build bridges between Montenegro and the European film scene. I believe that this is just the beginning of a long and successful collaboration", she said and wished that this "Month of European Film" would be the beginning of a long journey through European cinema.
Bonus video:
