When Father Was Away on Business (1985) on Netflix
In 1950 Yugoslavia, six-year-old Malik is told his father has gone away on business. In truth, the communist functionary Meša has been sent to a labor camp.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.7/1010,908 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
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Plot summary
It is June 1950 in Yugoslavia, in the years after the split between Tito and Stalin, when the state is searching for enemies within. Malik is six, a chronic sleepwalker who climbs trees with the neighborhood children. His father, Meša, is a communist functionary. His mother, Sena, tells him that his father has gone away on business, and Malik believes her. Sena has no answers of her own. The family must cope in his absence. Čika Franjo, the neighborhood drunk, sings Mexican songs to the field workers, keeping clear of songs from either superpower. Malik is circumcised by his father's brother. Meša has been sent to a labor camp over a remark about a political cartoon about the split in the Politika newspaper.
Cast
- Moreno de Bartolias Malik
- Aco Gjorčevas Dr. Jevgeni Ljahov
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- When Father Was Away on Business was Emir Kusturica's first win of the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival; he won his second in 1995 with Underground.
