Vesna
Dec 05, 2008
(Frantisek Cáp, Yugoslavia, 1953, 35mm, 93 min)
One of the best loved of all Slovenian films—the national film award is actually called the Vesna in the film’s honor—this surprisingly gentle college comedy was a huge hit that helped put Slovenia’s newly founded film studio Triglav Film on the cinematic map. A group of college students spend their days looking for ways to get out of studying for their upcoming finals. They can’t help but notice Vesna, the pretty daughter of an especially tough mathematics professor. When Vesna discovers that one of them, Samo, was courting her only to catch a glimpse of her father’s final exam, she breaks off the relationship. But Samo is not so readily deterred. Although made in the newly socialist Yugoslavia, the film does not confront class struggle. Everyone is fashionably dressed, eating well and living in well-appointed houses or apartments. Veteran Czech director Frantisek Cáp, who had immigrated to Yugoslavia after Tito’s break with Stalin, went on to have a successful career in his adopted country.
"On the surface, Vesna is a simple romantic comedy, but its message of trust in the young generation and hope for the future dominates the painlessly resolved plot complications of love and misunderstandings." -Seattle PI