Days and Hours

New York Premiere

96 MINUTES | Bosnian |

DAYS AND HOURS

One of the most outstanding Bosnian films of the year, which has touched a deep chord with local audiences, Days and Hours, can truly be called a healing experience. After so many films about the siege of Sarajevo and war horrors in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it finally presents a vision of people moving on with their lives in the post-war period. Director Pjer Zalica, whose award-winning first film Fuse was also about Muslims living in Sarajevo, uses fine, gentle humor to describe these homey folk. The story (whose original title is Visiting Uncle Idriza) revolves around Fuke (Senad Basic´), a bumbling, heart-of-gold bachelor who crosses town to fix Uncle Idriza (Mustafa Nadarevic´) and Aunt Sabira's (Senka Sokolóvic-Bertok) water heater. As they talk, he discovers that Uncle Idriza can't get over his son's death in the war, or stomach the idea of his daughter-in-law remarrying. Zalica makes us understand it's one of those close-knit families where everyone's opinion matters enormously. Though there's very little in the way of action, the film brilliantly describes the close relations that still bind people in the old Muslim neighborhood. In his plodding way, Fuke becomes instrumental in restoring family harmony. The feeling of community is so persuasively presented that the initially nosey, gossipy neighbors morph into a larger family. Instead of tears and regrets, the story evolves into a festive celebration of life in an exuberant finale underlined by Sasa Losic´'s rousing music, which leaves audiences laughing along with the characters.