Tribeca Movie Review: The Optimists
Posted on Wednesday,
May 9th, 2007 at 10:03 am
by: Francisco Saco

The following film was screened at the 2007
Tribeca Film Festival.

The Optimists (Optimisti)
Spotlight, Narrative
2006, Serbia
Dir: Goran Paskaljevic

Everything’s good and getting better, or so the characters in The Optimists think. With a vivid sense of humor, irony, and sadness, director Goran Paskaljevic creates five stories of people struggling to overcome their harsh realities, while fighting to see the good in their endeavors. Paskaljevic presents a crew of confused individuals, blinded by their hopes of prevailing, that continue to get stuck in unfortunate situations. With a magnificent performance by Lazar Ristovski, from Kusturica’s Underground, the film is able to transmit tales of twisted, amusing episodes contrasted with sorrowful experiences. The persons within the film have something going against them, and they either confront this reality with humor or despondency.

The first tale narrates the story of a town torn apart by a flood. We see the townspeople congregate in a huge warehouse for shelter. They are visited by a man claiming to be a hypno-therapist, who says he can cure them all. Accused of being a thief, the man is arrested and taken away, but it is revealed that he is actually a harmless escape patient from the local mental institution.
The second tale, and the most harrowing, concerns itself with a girl who is raped by her father’s boss. The father thinks he can kill his boss and get away with it, but realizes his boss owns the entire town. In the end, it is the man and his daughter who end up apologizing.

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GORAN PASKALJEVIC - Premijera novog filma -OPTIMISTI -
Trijumf "Optimista" u Valjadolidu
29 oktobar 2006

Film Gorana Paskaljevica "Optimisti" trijumfovao je na 51. medunarodnom festivalu u Valjadolidu, koji je završen u subotu uvece, prenosi Beta."Optimistima" je dodeljen gran pri Zlatni klas, a Lazar Ristovski je dobio nagradu za najbolju mušku ulogu. Paskaljevicev film je nagradio i žiri mlade publike, saopštio je juce Nova film.Trijumfu filma na ovom uglednom svetskom festivalu prethodio je izvanredan prijem i kod kritike i kod publike. Paskaljevic je pre deset godina vec osvojio najviše priznanje festivala u Valjadolidu za film "Tuda Amerika".
Gran pri podrazumeva i novcanu nagradu za pomoc distribuciji filma "Optimisti" (35.000 evra), koji pocinje da se prikazuje u bioskopima širom Španije od 5. novembra.
"Srpski reditelj Goran Paskaljevic se istakao na festivalu svojim najnovijim filmom 'Optimisti', koji je usaglasio publiku i najzahtevnije kriticare", piše danas dnevnik Mundo.
"S genijalnim glumcem Lazarom Ristovskim, Paskaljevic je napravio izuzetan film, lucidan, tužan i duhovit istovremeno", navodi Pais.
"Velicina ovog filma leži u njegovih pet originalnih prica (scenario Vladimir Paskaljevic), koje surovim humorom oslikavaju lažnu nadu", ocenjuje kriticar lista Razon.
"Snimljen vizuelno upecatljivo, ali nijednog trenutka pretenciozno, film 'Optimisti' istice izvanrednu kreaciju Lazara Ristovskog", navodi ABC.
Manuel Peres, generalni direktor Nacionalne televizije Španije (TVE) vec je najavio otkup ekskluzivnog prava da film "Optimisti" prikaže u svom redovnom programu, posle prikazivanja u bioskopima.

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Toronto Festival Daily:

"OPTIMISTI" RUŠE SVE ILUZIJE