The absurdity of a "Beautiful Day" and everything that lies behind it

When, instead of planning and living special, "wonderful days" for ourselves, for ourselves and those we care about, we start to live them for the sake of others, then, under the burden of expectations and obligations, that very "wonderful day" easily becomes something completely different... These are most often days that we plan in advance and know how they should look, how we should feel, how to dress, and what is increasingly important in society - what impression we should leave on them, whether in person or via social media.

Smiles, formal attire, music, cake, photos, satisfied guests, fun and a perfectly organized celebration, everything in its place... Everything, except for the inner feeling and pressure... It would seem that these "wonderful days" instead of those they concern and who organize them, have increasingly become focused on satisfying other people's criteria, starting from family and friends, to strangers on the internet. Gala birthdays, baptisms, engagements, weddings, anniversaries and other celebrations of all kinds, are increasingly similar to each other, while organizers most often focus on the needs of the guests, instead of their own. Thus, the celebration of love and sharing joy, instead of a leisurely gathering of dear people, becomes a kind of "event".

Such an “event” is the basis of the short feature film “A Beautiful Day” by the Montenegrin director Katarina Bulajić which opened the Dzada Film Fest on Monday evening. The question of what we show and what we really feel and desire, and what is the real purpose of various celebrations and whether we need them, are most visible in the drama filled with humor. Beneath these initial questions, lie a series of other, deep and layered, questions that encourage us to question ourselves, our partner, life, desires, compromises, boundaries, emotional state, needs, traumas, fears, snobbery, elitism, networks - virtual and real...

The film follows a young mother who organizes a big celebration for her daughter's first birthday, trying to hide her own dissatisfaction and inner struggle through the celebration. However, what should be a day dedicated to the child becomes a space in which it becomes increasingly clear how difficult it is to preserve one's own identity when a woman is expected to be everything and everywhere: mother and partner, housewife, daughter-in-law, sister, nurse, organizer, and in all of this always smiling and well-groomed, with a perfect hairstyle and dress, so that she looks and behaves as others expect, and even eats and drinks according to other people's criteria. Above all, she is someone who must not show that she is not well and who must respect everyone.

And little by little, the film moves away from the splendor of the event itself, and turns towards the main character. She does not try to escape from the role of mother, but she does try to find a space for herself within that role. She does not try to disappear from the role of wife, but she knows what she wants and, one might say, finds a way to talk about it... "A Beautiful Day" does not oppose motherhood and freedom, nor does it say that one necessarily cancels out the other, but rather questions how easily a woman's identity can be reduced to a single role, and how difficult it is to admit that in addition to love (for a child, a partner or a job) there can also be fatigue, dissatisfaction, doubt, the need for one's own time and the desire to be something more than what others expect.

He excels in the lead role. Marija Đurić in every way - from movement, mimicry, tone, silence, convincing performance... Her partner in the film Momcilo Otašević also carries part of the burden, which is particularly significant in this and other works, and in the subject itself, because it does not stereotype the male macho role, does not reduce it to the patriarchal father in the family who knows best, but tries to reach his wife and at the same time keeps the situation, or event, under control (or at least tries to)... Đurić, who carries the bulk of the film, shows the internal struggle that often takes place between words, looks and behavior, while Otašević rounds out the story of a partnership and the different ways in which men and women recognize, or do not, what is happening to them. The script is so carefully shaped into something that is not parody, mockery or pathos, but something completely human.

Bulajić does not approach the entire topic and event through a grand drama, but through everyday life that we easily recognize, laugh at, and live ourselves. That is why “A Beautiful Day” is simultaneously humorous and unpleasant, but also close and painful. The humor does not mock the characters, but helps us recognize the absurdity in which everyone finds themselves or has found themselves in some way - whether as organizers, friends, guests, or advisors. The need to turn an event that should be intimate into proof that our lives are happy, orderly, successful, but also photogenic and representative, often obscures both its cause and those who are the protagonists.

It seems that today we turn everything, including a “beautiful day”, into a stage on which we judge ourselves and others. At such a moment, the film finds one of its most important themes - the pressure to adapt even our own emotions to other people's expectations. Because today, when happiness is photographed, published and proven, it seems that the hardest thing has become to admit that not everything is always exactly like that.

Katarina Bulajić's directorial approach leaves the viewer eager for the story, and for its continuation. The impression is that the film could easily grow into a feature film, given the complexity and numerous topics it opens up, but also the way it approaches them - receptively, with humor, but also psychologically precise, without the intention of offering a solution or answers, but also to place it in a specific context and space, be it national, geographical, class, religious... It is clear that gatherings, expectations, the need to leave a good impression, questions that no one asked, comparisons and constant weighing of other people's lives are not just a Montenegrin or Balkan thing, but a generally accepted, perhaps even imposed, lifestyle of the modern world.

Be honest and yourself.

After the screening of the film "Divan dan", the author and cast paid their respects to the audience and the author Bulajić addressed them. She recalled that her film, before its national premiere, had a regional life at festivals in Serbia and Croatia, but that its most special screening was in Montenegro.

Marija Đurić said that "it's okay to say you're not okay, but it's not okay to keep it a secret, because sooner or later there will be a shooting."

"You are witnessing that we live in a time when we pack up, when we show off, when some important events are no longer about those for whom something is being organized... We need to try to be ourselves, we need to listen to ourselves and compete less, because today, and through social networks, this is additionally imposed on us. So, be yourself, enjoy every moment, be honest with your partners, your family and yourself," Đurić emphasized.

Momčilo Otašević addressed the comment that it was a "women's film" or a "women's topic", and emphasized that he would always support that.

"I would like to thank this wonderful team and I am honored to have been a part of the film. I am really happy about this film, which I saw for the first time tonight. I agree with everything that was said before me and I would just add that we need more films like this, more auteur films, more women's films... We need more films," said Otašević.

The film stars: Marija Đurić, Momčilo Otašević, Jelena Đukić, Petar Burić, Marija Maša Labudović, Lazar Nikolić, Marko Miladinović, Ada Krgović, Tatjana Torbica, Tia Đurišić and others... The script, together with Bulajić, is written by Deja Crnović.

The production company ABHO film was in charge of the production, in cooperation with the company Roshula films and the Radio and Television of Montenegro. The producer is Marija Vlahović, and the co-producers are Bulajić, Snježana Gomilanović and Boris Raonić. The director of photography is Matija Munjiza Petrović, the costume designer is Lina Leković, the set designer is Igor Klikovac, the make-up artist is Bojana Kojičić, the colorist is Biljana Ristivojević Bižić, the music was composed by Lado Raičković, the sound engineer is Bojan Radojević, the sound designer is Slobodan Mihajlović. The editor is Jovana Filipović.