pila se koca zero uz ovo

isk uopste nije to sto sam ocekivao ali sad kad malo razmislim dobar je. tipicna americka romanticna komedija maskirana u brending al zapravo buk prica o brending invaziju hahaha ovo se desilo u vranje posle bombardovanje…. 
svi mrzimo amerikanci ameriku brendovi reklame marketing a opet drkamo na sve to e tako i ova zena u film 
posal nikad nije samo posao gde je nestala licna odgovornost zato smo u ovolka govna jer svi mislimo da nije do nas i ponasamo se kao da se poslovi odvijaju u neku skroz izolovanu alternaticnu realnost i shvatamo ih ko misije u igricu msm i ja al pa nmg i o to da dazmisljam sad dosta mi sto ce padne nuklearka
ma dosta teme pomalo razradjeno u ovaj film al je na kraju krajeva komerc film iz osamdesete bas sto nije losa stvar nego eto da ocekujete
nisam odusevljen al procita neki mng dobar review pa skapira da je samo problem sto sam sweet movie gledao pre ovo i ocekivao nesto bar malo tog tipa
antikapitalisyicki virus ubacen u film namenjen za odredjen tip ljudi hahahah

pila se koca zero uz ovo

isk uopste nije to sto sam ocekivao ali sad kad malo razmislim dobar je. tipicna americka romanticna komedija maskirana u brending al zapravo buk prica o brending invaziju hahaha ovo se desilo u vranje posle bombardovanje…. 
svi mrzimo amerikanci ameriku brendovi reklame marketing a opet drkamo na sve to e tako i ova zena u film 
posal nikad nije samo posao gde je nestala licna odgovornost zato smo u ovolka govna jer svi mislimo da nije do nas i ponasamo se kao da se poslovi odvijaju u neku skroz izolovanu alternaticnu realnost i shvatamo ih ko misije u igricu msm i ja al pa nmg i o to da dazmisljam sad dosta mi sto ce padne nuklearka
ma dosta teme pomalo razradjeno u ovaj film al je na kraju krajeva komerc film iz osamdesete bas sto nije losa stvar nego eto da ocekujete
nisam odusevljen al procita neki mng dobar review pa skapira da je samo problem sto sam sweet movie gledao pre ovo i ocekivao nesto bar malo tog tipa
antikapitalisyicki virus ubacen u film namenjen za odredjen tip ljudi hahahah

I am a fan of Dusan Makavejev’s work and this was certainly the first one I saw, though it was not in a cinema, but probably on the single ‘cable channel’ my parents subscribed to, and I’m pretty certain I would have decided to watch it because the guide likely mentioned ‘nudity’ (what do you want, it was the ‘80s and there was no internet).

What I saw (in addition to rather a lot of Greta Scacchi) was, what was to me at the time, a genuinely odd film. There are loads of weird asides, incongruous plot lines, a full-on music performance for an original-to-the-film Coke jingle (written and performed by a post-Split Enz but pre-Crowded House Tim Finn and band), some fairly subversive notions about corporate takeovers (which remain subversive to this day), a strange recurring riff on the CIA, and so on. Upon rewatch, though those things are all still there, in the larger context of Makavejev’s other work though, it’s not that weird—in fact, it is pretty safe for the most part.

A classic fish-out-of-water story, we follow uber-American Eric Roberts (he’s constantly introducing himself as ‘My name’s Becker, Atlanta, Georgia, USA’ as though that’s all one word), an uptight fixer for the Coca-Cola company, as he arrives in the significantly laidback environs of 1980s Sydney to improve sales and maximize profits. Soon setting his sights on one small section of Australia that appears to have no Coke products, he devotes his energy to figuring out why, and low-key culture-clash comedy ensues.

This is the second (and consecutive) of only two films Makavejev didn’t write himself (after ‘Montenegro’), and, again in retrospect, it shows—in the majority of his films, there’s a tension between, say, the ‘State’ and man or ‘Freedom’ and servitude, which is often addressed via black comedy, surrealism, or even outright vitriol. While this is a certainly a funnier film than most of his others, it’s comedy is very surface level. I’d hazard that the significantly increased budget and comparatively few political constraints leave the film somewhat unfocused, working best in the odd bits around the edges—the shitting bird, the mouse in Roberts’ shoes, Santas running rampant, or the cross-dressing party, for example. A lot of reviews seem to compare it unfavorably to Bill Forsyth’s ‘Local Hero’ (1983), but I think this is unfair. While in other hands that this could have been similar to Forsyth’s, and maybe was intended to be at the outset, Makavejev’s vision and intent are nowhere near as gentle; he’s looking to expose rot, and the failing of the film is that he doesn’t quite find it, not that it’s vaguely similar to another film.

I don’t want to give the impression that ‘The Coca-Cola Kid’ is not good, though. In fact, if you’ve not seen any Makavejev movies, it’s actually a not a bad place to start. Roberts’ performance is tightly wound and nicely offsets the laissez faire vibes of everyone else, Scacchi has great comic timing (and, it must be said, is gorgeous in a ruffled hair kind of way), parts are really, genuinely funny, and it does offer some tantalizing glimpses of an anarchistic streak explored more fully elsewhere.

I’d say a 4 stars among ‘movies’ but a 3 among Makavejev’s works, so how about 3.5?

I am a fan of Dusan Makavejev’s work and this was certainly the first one I saw, though it was not in a cinema, but probably on the single ‘cable channel’ my parents subscribed to, and I’m pretty certain I would have decided to watch it because the guide likely mentioned ‘nudity’ (what do you want, it was the ‘80s and there was no internet).

What I saw (in addition to rather a lot of Greta Scacchi) was, what was to me at the time, a genuinely odd film. There are loads of weird asides, incongruous plot lines, a full-on music performance for an original-to-the-film Coke jingle (written and performed by a post-Split Enz but pre-Crowded House Tim Finn and band), some fairly subversive notions about corporate takeovers (which remain subversive to this day), a strange recurring riff on the CIA, and so on. Upon rewatch, though those things are all still there, in the larger context of Makavejev’s other work though, it’s not that weird—in fact, it is pretty safe for the most part.

A classic fish-out-of-water story, we follow uber-American Eric Roberts (he’s constantly introducing himself as ‘My name’s Becker, Atlanta, Georgia, USA’ as though that’s all one word), an uptight fixer for the Coca-Cola company, as he arrives in the significantly laidback environs of 1980s Sydney to improve sales and maximize profits. Soon setting his sights on one small section of Australia that appears to have no Coke products, he devotes his energy to figuring out why, and low-key culture-clash comedy ensues.

This is the second (and consecutive) of only two films Makavejev didn’t write himself (after ‘Montenegro’), and, again in retrospect, it shows—in the majority of his films, there’s a tension between, say, the ‘State’ and man or ‘Freedom’ and servitude, which is often addressed via black comedy, surrealism, or even outright vitriol. While this is a certainly a funnier film than most of his others, it’s comedy is very surface level. I’d hazard that the significantly increased budget and comparatively few political constraints leave the film somewhat unfocused, working best in the odd bits around the edges—the shitting bird, the mouse in Roberts’ shoes, Santas running rampant, or the cross-dressing party, for example. A lot of reviews seem to compare it unfavorably to Bill Forsyth’s ‘Local Hero’ (1983), but I think this is unfair. While in other hands that this could have been similar to Forsyth’s, and maybe was intended to be at the outset, Makavejev’s vision and intent are nowhere near as gentle; he’s looking to expose rot, and the failing of the film is that he doesn’t quite find it, not that it’s vaguely similar to another film.

I don’t want to give the impression that ‘The Coca-Cola Kid’ is not good, though. In fact, if you’ve not seen any Makavejev movies, it’s actually a not a bad place to start. Roberts’ performance is tightly wound and nicely offsets the laissez faire vibes of everyone else, Scacchi has great comic timing (and, it must be said, is gorgeous in a ruffled hair kind of way), parts are really, genuinely funny, and it does offer some tantalizing glimpses of an anarchistic streak explored more fully elsewhere.

I’d say a 4 stars among ‘movies’ but a 3 among Makavejev’s works, so how about 3.5?