Days and Hours

The quiet-mannered Fuke (Basic) comes on a rare visit to his aunt Sabira (Bertok) and uncle Idriz (Nadarevic) to fix their boiler (although he could well spend the time fixing his own barely functional car). He notices that the couple have kept the bedroom of their  war-dead son untouched and that his widow hasn’t visited in an age. The old woman has become a compulsive cleaner of the house; while the old man smokes far too much. In mounting this excellent three-hander, Zalica privileges the minutiae of ordinary daily ritual (a meal of potato pie, taking tea, a table-tennis game), and places closeand subtle  attention to their interaction. The acting (especially of Sokolovic-Bertok) is excellent; the result an extremely touching tale of grief, dislocation and readjustment, only marred by a Kusturica-lite crowd-pleasing ending.