A Good Wife (‘Dobra Zena’, 2016) marks the directorial debut of Serbian star Mirjana Karanovic who was best known for her roles in Emir Kusturica’s films (‘When My Father Was Away on Business’, ‘Underground’, ‘Life is a Miracle’) and for playing the central character in Jasmila Zbanic’s ‘Grbavica’ (2006). Karanovic also brilliantly plays the titular role in A Good Wife, a docile 50-year-old matriarch named Milena. Karanovic’s Milena is a mother of three, comfortably living under the care of her husband Vlada, (Boris Isakovic), a well-to-do contractor. She spends her day cleaning their Belgrade suburban house, taking care of college-going son Milos (Jovan Belobrkovic) and high school-going daughter Katarina (Isidora Simijonovic), and enjoys the occasional gathering with her husband’s war buddies and their life partners. Milena’s quotidian yet peaceful life is ruptured when she’s diagnosed with breast cancer (beautifully touched upon in the opening scene as she wistfully sits in front of a mirror, topless and examines her breasts). But soon a much bigger conflict overwhelms Milena. While undertaking the usual spring clean of the house, she stumbles upon her husband’s military uniform and a VHS tape, which contains more than the old footage of their family’s joyous gathering.
Apart from acting and directing, Mirjana Karanovic has also
co-wrote the script with Stevan Filipovic and Darko Lungulov (Filipovic has
directed Karanovic in 2015 dramedy ‘Next to Me’, whereas Lungulov has directed
the actress in 2009 drama ‘Here and There’). The trio has written it as an
intense character study rather than a thriller. The ‘cancer’ metaphor is
especially employed in a sensible way without mining it for melodrama. Earlier
in the narrative, Vlada seems unsettled by the news debate, where an activist
remarks that former Serbian soldiers should be extradited and charged for war crimes
in the Hague Tribunal. In the VHS tape, Milena discovers Vlada, in full
paramilitary attire, and his buddies brutally executing civilians in the
Yugoslav Wars (1991 – 2001). Milena passively watches the
views of talking heads in the news, but she is visibly distressed by her husband’s war activities,
so much that she doesn’t watch the video fully.
Natasha (Hristina Popovic), Milena and
Vlada’s independent, art-loving eldest daughter deepens the good wife’s inner
conflict. Natasha has stopped talking with her father because of her works with
Belgrade human rights organization and for looking beyond the rosy glow
of their nation’s war history. On one hand, Milena’s growing closeness with
Natasha makes her to question Vlada’s inhumane acts, in the name of war. At the
same time, being aware and taking action pushes Milena into panic because it
would bring unprecedented transformations to their lives. Should Milena be the proverbial ‘good
wife’ and endure, preserve husband’s dirty secrets? Or should she do the
‘right’ thing and in due course ruin their family unit? It’s fascinating to see
how Karanovic and her co-writers find parallels between the personal and
societal cancer that’s disturbing Milena’s composure. The doctor after
suggesting immediate surgery says, “We'll do reconstruction, everything will
look the same”. We know the ‘reconstruction’ following the cleansing of
‘cancers’ aren’t going to be the same.
The symbols conjured may seem a bit convenient and unsubtle,
but Karanovic’s performance and direction perfectly infuses the emotional beats.
The slow shift in Milena’s emotionality is gracefully suggested. Karanovic
builds the narrative out of interesting, little moments: the naturalistic
chatter between mom and daughter; through awkward, non-erotic sexual encounters
between Milena and Vlada; the calm sequence when Milena wakes up early in her
house, takes the car to do what she feels right. In one memorable scene, Milena
serves snacks to her husband, daughter, son and their friends who are deeply
involved in discussing politics, education, etc. Milena, no longer wanting to
remain passive, says something sensible but in a little harsh tone. The others
are baffled, not by what she said or by the tone she assumed; it’s due to the
fact that this acquiescent woman has opened her mouth to voice out an opinion. And
Karanovic is uniformly phenomenal in playing the dutiful wife troubled by her
conscience (as stunning as she was in ‘Grbavica’). Her towering presence smooths
out the little rough edges that are evident with Karanovic the film-maker.
Overall, A Good Wife (90 minutes) is a straightforward yet endearing tale of motherhood,
post-war society, truth, and reconciliation embellished by good
writing and impressive ensemble cast.
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