When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
Tito's break-up with Stalin in 1948 marked the beginning of not only confusing, but also very dangerous years for many hard-core Yugoslav communists... (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Emir Kusturica
Written By: Abdulah Sidran
Starring: Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Mirjana Karanovic, Mustafa Nadarevic, Mira Furlan, Predrag Lakovic, Moreno D'E Bartolli
Genre: Drama
AKA: Otac na sluzbenom putu
Country: Yugoslavia
Where to Stream
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When Father Was Away on Business belongs to 13 collections
1. Palme d'Or (collaborative: moderated by mpowell - 78 stars)
2. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
3. FIPRESCI Prize (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 14 stars)
4. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 11 stars)
5. Best Foreign Film Oscar Nominees (collaborative: moderated by snallygaster - 8 stars)
6. 1950s period film (collaborative: moderated by djross - 6 stars)
7. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
8. Coheed's Films I Need To See Or Try To Track Down (public: Coheed - 3 stars)
9. Akira Kurosawa's Top 100 Films (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 2 stars)
10. Cannes 1985 Official Selection (collaborative)
11. My DVD Collection (public: balseiros)
12. Forrest Watch List (public: ForrestQ)
13. Djross Eastern European feature films I have seen (public: djross)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 2 |  |
MartinTeller | 81 69th |
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Less zany than Kusturica's later films, more slow and somber. Still a good movie, though. A bit slow in the middle, maybe. It could use a little more humor and pizzazz... you can sense Kusturica's playful spirit just starting to surface around the edges.
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Magb | 85 73rd |
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Having now seen all of Kusturica's back catalog it's clear to me that Time of the Gypsies is where he truly found his voice. When Father Was Away on Business is a great film, but it's not as dynamic, eclectic or spirited as what he would go on to do. The best compliment I can give Kusturica is that he is truly fantastic when it comes to making movies that make you forget that you're watching a movie -- and that goes for all of his films.
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| 1 | triffid | 82 58th |
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Kusturica's potential as a filmmaker can be already clearly seen in this film. Very good, but if you're not a Kusturica freak like me, skip it and watch his later films instead.
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Moribunny | 100 99th |
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Sidran's writing is of the highest literary order, Kusturica conveys the difficult subject matter with masterful authenticity, and the acting is all excellent. This is that rarest of films that will make you laugh and cry and think and furious with anger, sometimes all at once. In short, pure, undiluted genius.
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djross | 65 70th |
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Seems to some extent to be a warm-up for UNDERGROUND, with many similar elements but a different tone. Set in an interesting (if not totally crazy) time in Yugoslavian history, and interesting that it premiered in Yugoslavia in January 1985, Gorbachev becoming General Secretary of the CPSU in March 1985 (by the way, it happened that the day I watched this movie is also the day of the announcement of Gorbachev's death).
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| Average Percentile 65.94% from 310 Ratings |  |