Film Review: The Last Serb in Croatia (Posljednji Srbin u Hrvatskoj, 2019)

The 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings were just another sad reminder of how ethnic and religious hatred can create tragic consequences even in places where nobody would expect them. So, it is refreshing to know that exactly the same phenomenon – ethnic and religious intolerance – can be an object of ridicule in films made in countries that have made headlines by having their mutual hatred reach its tragic climax in the form of wars and ethnic cleansing. Croatia and Serbia, two former Yugoslav republics that fought a long, bloody war in the 1990s after the collapse of the federation, now have film industries that cooperate in making joint films, some of them dealing with the unpleasant subject of Croat‑Serb relations before, during and after the 1990s conflict.

One of the few that took a somewhat iconoclastic approach in that effort is The Last Serb in Croatia, a 2019 science‑fiction comedy written and directed by Predrag Ličina. The plot is set in a near and unpleasantly plausible future. Negative macroeconomic and environmental trends have continued both on a global and national level, and Croatia, which is supposed to be one of the better‑off parts of the former Yugoslavia, is now practically bankrupt while the rest of the world fights for increasingly scarce resources like water. The Croatian population is sharply divided into an impoverished majority forced to beg on the streets and an obscenely rich minority, which includes the nominal protagonist Mićo (played by Krešimir Mikić). He lacks excitement in life and can afford to be obsessed with a series of cheap Croatian superhero films in which actress Franka Anić (played by Hristina Popović) plays the protagonist Hrvojka Horvat.

A chance to meet her arises due to a sudden pandemic that turns Croatians into flesh‑eating zombies. Mićo finds shelter in a Zagreb hospital where he meets Franka, and together with a group of survivors decides to travel toward depopulated areas near the Bosnian border, where they are supposed to be safer from zombie hordes. There they find a family which, unlike their neighbours, was apparently unaffected by the epidemic. Soon it becomes apparent that members of the ethnic Serb minority are immune and that their DNA might be the key to the antidote necessary to stop the global catastrophe.

The Last Serb in Croatia is the first feature film of Predrag Ličina, who until this time worked mostly in television. This is at times reflected in a script that tries very hard to stuff as much content as possible into a relatively short running time, betraying the author’s desire to put this rare film‑making opportunity to maximum use. This can be felt both through the fast tempo and jokes that mock not only Croats, Serbs and their respective national chauvinisms and ethnic stereotypes, but also deal with their troubled 20th‑century past, ideological divides and uncertain future. Ličina’s humour is also directed at the bigger picture, which includes other ethnic groups and states of the former Yugoslavia, as well as what is euphemistically called the “international community.”

Not all of those jokes work, and most of them would be completely lost on an audience unfamiliar with the history of this part of the world. Those who are familiar will, on the other hand, notice that the quality of the jokes and script decreases in the second half, leaving the impression that Ličina ran out of ideas. This is most evident in the “clever” twist at the very end, which actually looks like a desperate and not particularly successful attempt to wrap up a story that was going nowhere.

On the other hand, Ličina’s work is satisfying from a technical standpoint, and his capable direction successfully hides the lack of a big budget. The rather diverse cast is also capable, although Mikić as the nominal protagonist is easily overshadowed by Serbian actress Hristina Popović, who excels in a role that, among other things, could be interpreted as a parody of Wonder Woman. Other members of the cast are often wasted in thankless and underwritten roles; one such example is Serbian actor Srđan Trifunović in the role of a jingoistic US general that looks like a cheap parody of George C. Scott’s character in Dr. Strangelove, while another is famous Croatian singer Severina in a cameo role as a clueless humanitarian activist.

Despite these flaws, The Last Serb in Croatia could be commended as an imperfect but noble attempt to help different nations and communities face their respective pasts through humour and perhaps finally start building something of a better future.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

(Note: The text in the original version is available here.)

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