Battle on Neretva

The Battle of Neretva is an ahistorical and metadramatic performative anti-spectacle which answers to the search for the Archimedean point in the universe. Its suddenly uninterrupted and inconsistent stage dialogue between two people in search for themselves is an attempt of re-thinking concepts and gifts of happiness, emancipation, freedom, security, responsibility and the future in the time of permanent suppression and presumption of dialogue and sense. This pursuit is simultaneously a fictional and a real afterthought of a quotidian ‘happy place’ within spatio-temporal stage-machine which is capable of rethinking and analyzing everything. The Battle of Neretva simultaneously reveals both public and private dilemmas of its performers, but also their work, ethical and socio-political environment. It is also a performative lecture that addresses resolved and unresolved issues of politics, human beings and nature, therefore fitting into and deviating from the yesterday, the today, and the possible tomorrow. It is a narrative that speaks of real and fictional characters and about relativity of their victories or defeats, by tracing history in a nonlinear way. This search for our past, present and potential future in its documentary approach, sums up the experience of actual battles, victories and defeats, but also the experience of filming one particular battle.

From Reviews:
[In the final scene, while they are chewing onions and squeezing lemon juice into their eyes, they discuss the difference between authenticity and action. Anyway, it was painful to watch this assault on their eyes, because you were aware that they cannot close them sufficiently… After initial reading of the film summary, biographical data of (the performers) Bakal and Vukelić appears to be in association with real characters who lived during the time of the aforementioned battle. Several authentic family and historical events are mentioned but we can never completely be sure to what extent they are real or fictional. Is every uniform cap on their head a message? And how many of us are being deceived by our own memory? Is it not finally necessary to stop digging through the past and to say enough? Although we could go on until exhaustion counting the multitude of performative and directing procedures and methods, I liked this little dialogue the most, apparently common for all who are tired and clever: “What do you want?” “I just want out of this shit!”] — Olga Vujović, Oj neretvo, vodo ladna –  Kritikaz, March 01, 2016.

[This “quest for Archimedes point in the universe”, as it says in the announcement of the show, is a constant artistic and human obsession of Bakal and Shadow Casters: to connect the fragmented parts of forces in our lives, to let us reconcile with the ghosts of our past and to establish peace in our hearts and conscience. These two actors, whose parents and ancestors were possibly on opposing sides during the war, or who knows where and why, go through a dialogue that is saturated with their commitment to overcome their experiences and face each other. The meeting with the theme “Where was your daddy when it thundered” is not easy: the two actors sit vis-à-vis, pour lemon juice straight in their eyes, eat raw onions and are not very gentle with each other. They put different uniform hats on, Partisan, Chetnik and Ustasha, shouting at each other and shoving the table, but constantly — talking to each other. The play with its verbal twists somewhat resembles that of a brilliant book called “Oak-breaking”, which describes a conversation of conservative French President Charles de Gaulle and left-wing Minister of Culture André Malraux, which is also intertwined with time synchronicities, lucid observations and dramatic historical moments.] — Bojan Munjin, Potraga za ljudskom sudbinom – Portal Novosti, March 13, 2016.