A Wonderful Night in Split-Ta divna Splitska noc (2004)

Directed by: Arsen Anton Ostojic | 97 minutes | drama | Actors: Coolio, Michael Klesic, Dino Dvornik, Mladen Vulic, Marija Skaricic, Nives Ivankovic, Marinko Prga, Vicko Bilandzic, Ante Simun Majstorovic, Ivana Roscic, Pero Vrca, Dara Vukic, Nikola Ivosevic, Franko Strmotic

Make no mistake about the cynical title, ‘A Wonderful Night in Split’ is anything but a cozy tea party in Croatian Split. Shot in stylish black and white, this film shows how the lives of a number of people are completely disrupted by excessive drug use.

‘A Wonderful Night in Split’ consists of three storylines that are loosely glued together. In the first part of the triptych you see how a war veteran makes a fatal mistake when he chooses the big money instead of the love of a widow and her son. Greed can kill. In the second story, you get to know a desperate junkie who puts all her principles aside in order to score a shot. The girl is willing to sell her body to a depressed American sailor. Part three of the film consists of a fatalistic love couple that sinks further and further into a downward spiral of drugs. The demise of junkies will always be a rewarding subject for cinematographers, because life on the fringe of society offers enough interesting situations. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the point is that so many such films have been made that as a director you really have to do something new to stand out.

‘A Wonderful Night in Split’ is a well-made film, but no more than that. Arsen Anton Ostojic has delivered a stylish production, but the film is nowhere to be found. The three plot lines are nicely worked out, but because of the short playing time of each chapter you never get a bond with the characters. It remains too distant and the junkies you see are not too sympathetic either. In addition, the acting is not equally strong across the board. Especially the apathetic playing of the American rapper Coolio arouses irritation. Sometimes there is indeed good acting, but for the majority of the film the cast is not really busy.

‘A Wonderful Night in Split’ is a film that can be especially visual. The artistically shot black and white images always look great. Every scene looks like a work of art. In terms of content, the film lags behind. The worries of Croatian junkies are not exciting, moving or funny. Rather bland and boring. So not so ‘wonderful’.