Of Bees, Birds, Trees, and Women: Iconography, Superstition and Victimization of Female Characters in Yugoslav New Film

!"#$" !"# Of bees, birds, trees, and women: iconography, superstition and victimization of female characters in Yugoslav New Film ()*+ (,-.(+/ Film Studies and Visual Culture University of Antwerp, Belgium A!"#$%&#. Vuković Vesi, Of bees, birds, trees, and women: iconography, superstition and victimization of female characters in Yugoslav New Film. “Images” vol. XXVIII, no. Poznań . Adam Mickiewicz University Press. Pp. –. ISSN -X. DOI ./i... ,is study investigates how the directors of two selected case study -lms criticise the real-life remnants of patriarchy in the family sphere, in nominally gender-equal Yugoslavia. I argue that they do this by transposing their stories from socialist Yugoslavia to the pre-socialist times: during Ottoman rule and monarchist Yugoslavia. ,e selected period -lms Breza/"e Birch Tree (Ante Babaja, , Yugoslavia) and Roj/"e Beehive aka "e Swarm (Miodrag ‘Mića’ Popović, , Yugoslavia), both belonging to the Yugoslav novi !lm (New Film) movement (-), refract the workings of the vestiges of patriarchy in a family domain of Yugoslav socialist society. In these two costume dramas, patriarchy is portrayed to its fullest extent, due to their stories being set in the past, ostensibly unrelated to contemporary Yugoslav society and thus uninhibited by the drive to cater to the o/cial discourse of female emancipation. Applying a critical -lm feminist perspective, by formal analysis via close readings of these two selected -lms, this article examines the iconography linked to -ctional depictions of heroines and delves into the representation of victimisation of women. I investigate whether the depiction of the female sorceress(es) embody the primitiveness, ignorance, and/or poverty of economically disadvantaged and historically oppressed pre-socialist village. In order to peruse not only the individual portrayal of female protagonists but the dynamics of their interaction, the Bechdel test is applied and complemented with concepts such as the ‘reversed masquerade’ and ‘cryptomatriarchy’, which sheds light on the relationship between women and the presence or absence of female solidarity. K'()*$+": iconography, Yugoslav New Film, female characters, Bechdel test, ‘reversed masquerade’, ‘cryptomatriarchy’ !e main aim of this study is to investigate costume dramas, patriarchy is portrayed in its why the directors of two selected Yugoslav New fullest extent, due to the stories being set in the Films depict the patriarchal reign of a pre-so- past during Ottoman rule and monarchist Yu- cialist past, instead of their socialist present. goslavia. !e &lms are ostensibly unrelated to Why did they choose to feature women as the their contemporary Yugoslav society and are main characters, which was less common in thus uninhibited by the inclination to cater to the Yugoslav novi !lm (New Film) Movement? the o'cial discourse of female emancipation. I propose the argument that this was a choice to !e Yugoslav socialist state took all the neces- criticise the real-life remnants of patriarchy in sary legislative measures for guaranteeing and the family sphere of a nominally gender-equal promoting gender equality. What it could not Yugoslavia, by cinematically regressing into fully eradicate were the patriarchal mindsets the past, into the pre-socialist times before the of people in the domain of the family, dating Second World War, instead of showing the so- back and persisting from pre-socialist times. cialist present of the "#$%s. In the two studied By having a critical attitude towards myths of !"$ !"#$" the past, &lms are critically relating to their of female characters in &lms, in recent years the contemporary myths.[%] !erefore, I contend test has o2en been applied to cinema for evalu- that the selected period &lms, Breza/"e Birch ating gender representation.['] !e shortcom- Tree (Ante Babaja, "#$0, Yugoslavia) and Roj/ ings of the somewhat over-simpli&ed Bechdel "e Beehive[&] aka "e Swarm (Miodrag ‘Mića’ test are complemented with concepts such as Popović, "#$$, Yugoslavia), both belonging to the ‘reversed masquerade’,[(] and ‘cryptoma- the Yugoslav New Film movement, refract the triarchy’,[)] which shed light on the relations workings of the vestiges of patriarchy in a family between women and the presence or absence domain of Yugoslav socialist society. I observe of female solidarity. !e former theoretical con- the &lms from a critical &lm feminist perspec- cept refers to the celluloid e3aced femininity tive, by formal analysis via close readings. of elderly women, o2en clad in black, who ap- In addition, my study scrutinises the repre- propriate patriarchal attitudes from their male sented victimisation of women, and the mean- family members and use manly behaviour as ings behind iconography (of the birch tree, the a mask.[*] !e latter concept implies the hid- white dove and the queen bee) linked to &ction- den, obscured power of elderly women with- al depictions of heroines. In order to observe in a real-life household of a patriarchal fam- and analyse, both the individual portrayal of ily, speci&cally regarding younger women.[+] female protagonists and the dynamics of their Lastly, I foreground how, in the selected &lms, interaction, the Bechdel test is performed. Al- a female sorceress embodies the primitiveness, though initially originating as a witty insight ignorance, and poverty associated with the from a comic writer and not meant to be em- economically disadvantaged and historically ployed as a method to investigate the silencing oppressed pre-socialist village. !e reason for selecting and analysing "e [1] S. Novaković, Vreme otvaranja, Novi Sad Birch Tree and "e Beehive is due to both being "#0%, p. "67. period &lms set during pre-socialist times. "e [2] Although the more accurate literal transla- Birch Tree takes place in the era between the two tion of the &lm title would be "e Swarm, which World Wars, during the Kingdom of Yugosla- appears in few rare mentions of the &lm by other authors, I decided to translate it as "e Beehive, via, thus regressing into the times of tradition because it better captures the essence of the &lm when patriarchy reigned. Similarly, "e Beehive in terms of the iconography of the bees. evokes bygone times in the more distant past [3] J. O’Meara, What “"e Bechdel Test” doesn’t of the First Serbian uprising against the Otto- tell us: examining women’s verbal and vocal (dis) mans in "4%5. Moreover, these two case study empowerment in cinema, “Feminist Media Stud- &lms were chosen due to both being shot in ies” 7%"$, "$ ($), p. ""7%. the times of socialism, when gender equality [4] M. Bogojević, "e beauty of gender sin: politics was proclaimed. !e thematic distancing from of representation in Yugoslav auteur !lm, “Pro- Femina” 7%"", pp. 766–7$7. current events in the socialist present by placing [5] A. Simić, Machismo and cryptomatriarchy: the story in the past, accentuated by the usage of power, a#ect, and authority in the traditional costumes and settings, renders any ideological Yugoslav family, [in:] Gender Politics in the obligation towards the socialist state unneces- Western Balkans, ed. S.P Ramet, University Park sary.[,] Consequently, it enables a subtlety in "###, pp. ""–8%. audio-visual or narrative character develop- [6] M. Bogojević, "e beauty of gender…, p. 76#. ment.[-] In contrast, gender representations as [7] A. Simić, op.cit., pp. $0–00. stereotypes are more frequent in Yugoslav &lms [8] S. Slapšak, Žensko telo u jugoslovenskom !lmu: %. status žene, paradigma feminizma, [in:] Žene, which deal with contemporary themes.[ ] !is slike, izmišljaji, ed. B. Arsić, Beograd 7%%%, p. "74. is the case in many Yugoslav New Films, which [9] Ibidem. makes the two analysed &lms belonging to this [10] Ibidem. movement rather exceptional, since they feature !"#$" !"/ :eshed out female characters and stories set in in several countries, such as French Nouvelle the pre-socialist past. Vague, Japanese Nūberu bāgu and Czechoslo- Jovanović[%%] notes that some &lms classi- vakian Nová Vlna. &ed as the Classical Yugoslav Cinema (gen- Aside from the presence of generational erally speaking, &lms with classical narrative con:ict, the two selected &lms also qualify preceding the Yugoslav New Film movement) as Yugoslav New Films for being innovative were critical of the rural patriarchal tradition and prone to experimentation in terms of con- as a part of earlier times, while simultaneously tent, and style. !ey are both rather formally implying that it might still be present in Yu- stylised, with non-linear narrative structures. goslav socialist society. Focusing on gender Subsequently, their editing is complex and whilst peasant-themed, they initiated a debate interspersed with retrospective scenes, which on the patriarchal legacy of traditional rural could be another argument (but not exclusive) life, stretching from the pre-socialist era into for categorizing them as Yugoslav New Films, socialism, to some extent.[%&] My argument is as opposed to the mainstream &lms with mostly in line with Jovanović’s, since "e Birch Tree and invisible, linear editing and classical narrative "e Beehive elicit this kind of debate. !us, there dramatic structure. !e formal characteristics is a continuity of the Classical Yugoslav Cinema of Yugoslav New Film are su3used with abso- with Yugoslav New Film, which ‘constantly de- lute stylistic freedom, where every auteur freely stroys all existing societal myths and questions choses means of expression that suit him[%,] traditional values of one patriarchal

Load more