Renowned Slovenian helmer Jan Cvitkovič asks us – and himself – what love is in his latest short film “Love on the Top of the World” that played in the Sunday Shorts program at this year’s Oldenburg International Film Festival.
It is the story of Viktor and Ana, a feisty couple in their eighties, who only have each other. They have built a lifetime together and a modest house with an idyllic and rural atmosphere. As chickens roam their garden, the elderly lovers bicker and battle old resentments but ultimately share their days, immune from the urban world – knowing this will be their heaven. Only an elevator can reach them. And, coffins won’t fit…
“Love on the Top of the World” is a voyage deep into Cvitkovič’s thoughts on love. It is powerfully written and directed by a man who is doing soul-searching and pondering on the feeling and its characteristic of transcending time. Perhaps he conceives his short as a projection of what he would like his (love) life to be like when he grows old or it comes from memories of something he has already witnessed in his ancestors. Be what it may, “Love on the Top of the World” is a potent, poignant and playful meditation on old age and the strongest of feelings, masterfully directed and imagined, outstandingly acted by Marijana Brecelj and Ivo Barišić and exquisitely shot by Jure Černec whose crisp black and white lensing lends it a dreamlike aura. Its touching message is that love requires effort, dedication and work; it is challenging and not always easy but definitely worth it!
When it’s on the top of the world, love can conquer all and “Love on the Top of the World” has conquered me…
O.T.: Ljubezen na strehi sveta
Production: RTV Slovenja, Staragara (Slovenia 2015)
Producer: Miha Černec
Director: Jan Cvitkovič
Screenplay: Jan Cvitkovič
Cinematography: Jure Černec
Music: Niko Novek
Production Design: Vasja Kokelj
Costume design: Polonca Valentičić
Editing: Andrej Nadode
Cast: Marijana Brecelj and Ivo Barišić
B&W – 16 min.
Premiere: 17/09/2015 (Slovene Film Festival
