Written and directed by Jelena Maksimovic, co-written by Olga Dimitrijevic and Ivan Salatic, Belgrade is a city split in two. In the occupied buildings and crowded streets, Lena fights for a world she believes can be changed. From the same neighbourhood, Stefan is torn between the life he wants and the forces pulling him to the other side of the protests. When they meet, they recognise a shared restlessness neither can quite name. Starring: Lena Trifunović, Andrija Krivokapić, Miodrag Dragičević, Irina Hotomski, Stefan Tarabić, Raško Milatović and Milica Institucija.
In her fiction feature debut Jelena Maksimovic is impressively committed to not sticking to the rulebook, to telling this story in a non-traditional way, and it’s really interesting to watch the choices that she makes. The way that the camera doesn’t focus on what you might think it would, how it doesn’t hand you the moments you want, it looks away and alters those moments into something else. There’s a strong focus on atmosphere and feelings rather than the simple chain of events.
Those choices won’t work for everyone but if you’re willing to look beyond purely the shot, to delve into the implications and the bigger picture as well as what’s happening in the moment, there’s plenty to discover. That’s not to say everything works perfectly, some of those choices are perhaps a little too enigmatic and vague, particularly the ending, which is very much open to interpretation, and not in the most impactful fashion. However, there are a lot of great layers being explored, both political and emotional, it’s an unusual coming of age story, but certainly has those familiar youthful, flirtatious, reckless qualities.
Its youth and personality are undoubtedly big selling points for Until the Day Ends. Lena Trifunović and Andrija Krivokapić make for a fantastic pairing, their chemistry is utterly natural and nicely understated. Unlike many coming of age pictures, it doesn’t skip to basic fumbling displays of affection, they create a genuine connection, based on the experience and their actions, not simply desire or attraction. The way that their relationship develops holds a refreshingly organic flow. Especially because Maksimovic is clever about how she employs the harsher themes, not overusing them or injecting unnecessary violence, they’re relatively brief but effectively add the exact amount of intensity that’s needed.
Being Jelena Maksimovic first foray into the fictional world, Until the Day Ends shows a great deal of promise, her dedication to telling this story without following norms or handing the audience easy scenes is fascinating to watch. It may not work for those looking for something simpler, as its unusual style may be found cold and obscure by some, but for those willing to unpack its layers, you’ll find plenty of warmth and contemplation. Lena Trifunović and Andrija Krivokapić are both excellent and create a complicated but genuinely sweet connection. It would have been too easy to try and make use of the visceral or volatile basis to this story, its protest and anarchy, but instead Maksimovic makes it a coming of age story of discovering your own identity and beliefs in a world which tries to decide them for you.
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