Srdjan Vuletic's second feature is a small but perfectly formed film ; and also happens to be one of the best films playing at Raindance at the moment.
Set in Sarajevo, the film tells the story of taxi-driver Fudo who alongside driving also hovers around the fringes of organised crime by giving local thugs tips on which houses to target to rob. He is also not above accpeting sexual favours as fare if customers can't pay and spends his remaining hours at a grill house which also serves as the taxi rank. Fudo's wfie Azra is not happy about her husband's dodgy dealing - she thinks that now that they have a baby together , he should become more of an honest man. However Fudo is not ready to switch : not until a well-inteded tip goes wrong and Azra walks out on him. A genunie belief that he should only do good propels Fudo to start making some serious attempts at changing and finding out for himself how really hard it is to be nice.
Sasa Petrovic plays Fudo as a sort of average everyman: he's mid forties, balding and is just like any ohter taxi driver one might encounter in the streets of Sarajevo. What sets him apart however is his sense of humor as well as his devotion to his child: the first shot of the film opens as Fudo drives his son around the city whilst giving him 'sagely' advice.
Once the whells of change are set in motion, we watch Fudo desperately try to do his best. He wants to be nice, he wants to do good: but circumstances keep trying to trip him up. From his friends to even the fares he ends up picking up, the film shows post-war Sarajevo as a place where to be honest is a genuine effort. Fudo approaches each obstacle with a good sense of humour and although the film gets very dark towards the end, it is his inherent humanity that serves as a remainder of why the human race must always pull through the bad times and the atrocities.
The rest of the cast is very good, too: Fudo's friend Sejo played ably by Emir Hadsihafizbegovic comes across as between a grumpy old man and stubborn child, Daria Lorenci plays Azra as a woman with a strong will who's ready to take a lot of risks for her husband - the smaller, more quirky characters also amuse: a customer whom Fudo keeps encountering but simply cannot give a ride to is one of the more amusing running gags in the film.
The look of the film might be gritty but it also is very bright - a realistic sort of canvas upon which the director is able to paint the portrait of the city: Sarajevo features perminently in the film and we are constantly reminded of a city still trying find its' identity and shed the horrors' of the past. Most of the scenes are bright and it is hard not to get a good sense of the place and time.
In the end, It's Hard To Be Nice succees because it creates characters in which the audience has to invest: perhaps European and Western audiences might be lost at some of the more Eastern humor and logic but this should not stop anyone from making an effort to see this subtle, humorous and touching film.
Set in Sarajevo, the film tells the story of taxi-driver Fudo who alongside driving also hovers around the fringes of organised crime by giving local thugs tips on which houses to target to rob. He is also not above accpeting sexual favours as fare if customers can't pay and spends his remaining hours at a grill house which also serves as the taxi rank. Fudo's wfie Azra is not happy about her husband's dodgy dealing - she thinks that now that they have a baby together , he should become more of an honest man. However Fudo is not ready to switch : not until a well-inteded tip goes wrong and Azra walks out on him. A genunie belief that he should only do good propels Fudo to start making some serious attempts at changing and finding out for himself how really hard it is to be nice.
Sasa Petrovic plays Fudo as a sort of average everyman: he's mid forties, balding and is just like any ohter taxi driver one might encounter in the streets of Sarajevo. What sets him apart however is his sense of humor as well as his devotion to his child: the first shot of the film opens as Fudo drives his son around the city whilst giving him 'sagely' advice.
Once the whells of change are set in motion, we watch Fudo desperately try to do his best. He wants to be nice, he wants to do good: but circumstances keep trying to trip him up. From his friends to even the fares he ends up picking up, the film shows post-war Sarajevo as a place where to be honest is a genuine effort. Fudo approaches each obstacle with a good sense of humour and although the film gets very dark towards the end, it is his inherent humanity that serves as a remainder of why the human race must always pull through the bad times and the atrocities.
The rest of the cast is very good, too: Fudo's friend Sejo played ably by Emir Hadsihafizbegovic comes across as between a grumpy old man and stubborn child, Daria Lorenci plays Azra as a woman with a strong will who's ready to take a lot of risks for her husband - the smaller, more quirky characters also amuse: a customer whom Fudo keeps encountering but simply cannot give a ride to is one of the more amusing running gags in the film.
The look of the film might be gritty but it also is very bright - a realistic sort of canvas upon which the director is able to paint the portrait of the city: Sarajevo features perminently in the film and we are constantly reminded of a city still trying find its' identity and shed the horrors' of the past. Most of the scenes are bright and it is hard not to get a good sense of the place and time.
In the end, It's Hard To Be Nice succees because it creates characters in which the audience has to invest: perhaps European and Western audiences might be lost at some of the more Eastern humor and logic but this should not stop anyone from making an effort to see this subtle, humorous and touching film.
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