Written and directed by Goran Devic, while state authorities in Croatia chase down supplies of increasingly rare Covid vaccinations, the queues of those waiting for them stretch endlessly along streets. Those queuing comprise a microcosm of the populace – a tapestry of personalities that range from stern gatekeepers to elderly women deliberating over vaccine preferences.
A lot of films were made quite quickly after Covid started to decline, detailing the experience and it perhaps felt too fresh but now that we’ve let a few years pass, it’s easier to look back on. It feels like an appropriate window to now look at the chaos that was the experience of getting the vaccine, something that was quite universally experienced, and is well portrayed in Pavilion 6. While every country may have been slightly different, the frustration that Goran Devic captures, and the bureaucratically driven systems with their inherent flaws, is something that a vast majority of people can relate to.
The style that Devic takes with Pavilion 6 has the feel of people-watching, like countless people will have done while waiting in endless queues to get the vaccine. Ranging from the utterly reasonable to the slightly ridiculous, and a surprising number of selfies. Devic puts a nice focus on how misinformation and conspiracy theories played a big role, and arguably continues to, in that time. It’s a solid snapshot of the experience, both from the perspective of the patients and from the staff.
Adding in that dual perspective was a great idea, it definitely helps to widen the view and to show how the frustration was felt on both sides. Although, moving around constantly from one person to another, while it does show the commonality, it can feel a touch too simple. There’s no additional context of the health system in Croatia, which undoubtedly a lot of people watching won’t have any knowledge of. There’s also no specific information exploring Croatia’s handling of the virus overall, which might have added some additional layers.
Pavilion 6 captures the communal frustration and struggle while dealing with Covid, and observes an interesting range of people from different backgrounds. Bringing through the experiences of the staff was a smart choice to widen its perspective. The style keeps things very observational and true to life, keeping the entire focus on the subjects in that moment. Additional context might have been helpful, as these are fleeting encounters but Goran Devic does a great job of capturing a strange, irritating, universal experience that a vast majority of people went through.
FilmCarnage.com 