Atlantis Rediscovered: Six Decades Since the Creation of Dušan Vukotić's "Seventh Continent"

"He was one of the rare breed of true gentlemen, a wonderful artist, man and intellectual, quiet, modest, beautiful... He was a visionary of a better world that he dreamed of in his film 'The Seventh Continent'." - Mila Code o Dušan Vukotić.

This year marks the sixty-year anniversary of the realization of Dušan Vukotić's work. Seven continents (1966) which preceded feature films Stadium action (1977) and Guests from the galaxy (1981). Wood Seven continents It did not represent a departure from cartoons, and even some elements from that world appear in it, but rather was a logical continuation of research on the conceptual, artistic and content level and the need for adequate film expression. Seven continents, partly filmed in Ulcinj, was realized in a noble and cosmopolitan spirit, and the film features children of all skin colors.

Supporting roles were also played by Fabijan Šovagović i Vanja Drah, and the roles fell to Petar Begović i Miloš JeknićAt one point in this film, a Yugoslav-Czechoslovak production, Vukotić seems to anticipate a scene from Fellini's shooting Clowns (1970).

Vukotić's work, based on a story by a Czechoslovak writer Ružene Fischer, is “a film fantasy based on the conflict between the real world of adults and the phantasmagoric world of children’s imagination.” It involved children aged six to fourteen whose parents were representatives of foreign countries in Yugoslavia. In this film, children move on the surface of the water, while adults cannot. A seven-year-old girl from Ulcinj said during the filming: “Adults are difficult.”

The director himself said: "During the work in Ulcinj, we performed trick shots that were based on technical constructions. It was about children sailing on the sea. As an auxiliary technical tool, a device was constructed that we placed underwater and which allowed us to create the illusion that children were moving and sailing on the sea on objects that are never used for sailing."

Atlantis of simplicity and harmony rediscovered, as characterized by the Seventh Continent Mica Milosevic, communicates with Vukotić's short films Jeu (1962) and Grasshopper (1975), while at certain moments a connection with Surogatom (1961) for which the author was awarded an Oscar.

Seven continents debuted in Pula in 1966 and delighted New York critics at its premiere in the United States. Kathleen Kerol wrote in the New York Daily News that it was difficult to watch this film without a constant smile on your face. In 1968, Borba brought the news that Seven continents It ran for over a month at Carnegie Hall, always with good attendance. The same text quotes the critic from The Morning Telegraph: “a powerful and wonderful film fantasy in which children of all nations, all faiths, and all colors, leave their homes, sailing across the sea, to establish a new civilization.” A line from The New York Times is also noted: “this combination of wit, imagination, and satire makes this a strange and refreshing film fantasy.”

Horst Knic wrote in Neues Deutschland: “Vukotić overcomes the difficulties of stylizing a continuous film plot while at the same time retaining its fairy tale charm. It is a film full of optical finesse.” Pisarevski in the Soviet screen (Soviet Screen) writes that Vukotić finds not only a field for applying his fantasy and good humor, but also for conveying his thoughts about the contemporary world, and that the plot is inspired by the good idea of ​​​​comradeship and unity of the destinies of sons and daughters of all races and peoples of the world. Also, Italian and Polish newspapers praise the film Seven continents.

Nikola Majdak notes: “Our greatest expert in special effects and film tricks builds incredible sets in the shallows near the mouth of the Bojana River into the Adriatic Sea, applying all his experience from the art of animation for a film that will be synonymous with the realization of children's rights.” The film encouraged the formation of a children's center on the island of Krpanj near Šibenik.

Sixty years later Seven continents is still relevant and interesting. Wood's vision of the world that children have arranged according to their own logic is instructive and interesting, noble and humorous, lucid and imaginative. In just under an hour and a half, he presented a fairy-tale story, and Ulcinj's sandy beaches and sea served as an ideal terrain.