‘Museum of the Revolution’ Review: Sheltering in an Abandoned Utopia

Srdan Keca’s quiet observational documentary “Museum of the Revolution” is about within the purlieus of a onetime utopian constructing challenge: a monument to Yugoslavia that was meant to function a socialist gathering area. The construction was deserted within the late Seventies, and right now its unfinished basement stage has develop into the dwelling place for a small group of unhoused individuals.

The movie opens with archival footage of a midcentury building web site, however quickly pivots to showcase a collection of haunting pictures of the museum because it at the moment stands: darkish, dank and plagued by particles. Successive scenes concentrate on three inhabitants of the area: an older lady named Mara, a boisterous youngster named Milica and Milica’s weary mom, Vera, who earns cash scrubbing the windshields of vehicles stopped at motorway pink lights.

A variety of the movie unfolds with out talking. Minutes move as Mara and Milica amuse themselves collectively or take pleasure in time alone. The dialogue we obtain presents snippets of the ladies’s life tales: we be taught that Mara is estranged from her daughter, that Vera’s husband is incarcerated and that youngster welfare companies tried to take custody of Milica a minimum of as soon as earlier than.

Keca typically captures the ladies throughout spells of ready, and builds a temper of transience by depicting them throughout seasons, areas and hours of the day. This is an engrossing documentary, and one which raises questions concerning the ethics of intervening (or not) within the lives of individuals struggling to get by. That these queries hover unresolved could depart viewers uneasy, however it additionally positions us alongside the topics, ready for an answer that’s but to reach.

Museum of the Revolution
Not rated. In Serbo-Croatian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. In theaters.