The Trap

Produced by Maksa Catovic, László Kántor

Cast: Nebojsa Glogovac, Natasa Ninkovic, Miki Manojlovic, Anica Dobra

As Serbia’s official entry to the best foreign film category of the 2008 Academy Awards, this outstanding film depicts a harsh reality of economic disparity in modern Belgrade. It’s a cold, bleak city of rich criminals, opportunists and ordinary, impoverished decent folk, and when these factions clash, the side of decency and morality has little defence.

Though Mladen (Nebojsa Glogovac) and Marija (Natasa Ninkovic) are not exactly poor, neither are they wealthy enough to afford the expense of a life-saving operation for their young son Nemanja (Marko Djurovic) in Berlin. Marija is a high school teacher who rankles under the arrogance of students who are far better-off, while Mladen is a builder who barely reacts when tons of steel are stolen from his site overnight, so common is it.

Their pride is the first casualty when Marija places an ad in the paper for financial help for the operation. It seems to be what people do in their situation but Mladen expects no response, so he’s surprised when he gets a phone call to meet an unknown prospective benefactor in a café. The man (Miki Manojlovic) looks like an underworld figure, but Mladen is a good-hearted chap who is utterly shocked when the man says that in return for 30,000 Euros, he needs someone killed.

Poverty cannot afford ethics. If the need is great enough, anyone can be tempted to steal, even to kill. The dilemma for Mladen is greater for the fact that Marija’s sole focus is Nemanja, to the point where she will not listen when Mladen wants to share his burden. He’s universally seen as a good man, a good father, and he takes his duty seriously. Nemanja’s illness puts enormous pressure on him to do something. Meanwhile, each of the parents’ attempts to find the money elsewhere meet with the overwhelming conclusion that the lives of some are worth more than others, and that good people are inevitably poor.

Mladen’s decision signals a decent into a hell of deception, betrayal, unbearable guilt and regret. Plot twists take what could be predictable into further agony and irony as this good man is systematically demoralised - and more by help coming from an unexpected quarter. The distance between Mladen and who he once was grows with the increasing failure of all communication between him and Marija. It’s echoed throughout the film in a particular street intersection where a homeless child offers to wash windscreens, which serves as a milestone for Mladen’s disintegration each time he stops there. Here, also, a random act of cruelty exemplifies a society where some elements have not risen above savagery.

The look of the film is stark, the colours washed out, the only warmth in Mladen and Marija’s early relationship and apartment and in the drawings with which young Nemanja covers the walls. Belgrade is shown as a city of deep internal divisions, with desperation only barely held below the surface. The final scene is from above, distancing the viewer from a personal involvement with this sad and violent story.

© Avril Carruthers          15^th June 2008

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