The break up of communism and the Eastern bloc is a theme often found centre stage in European cinema, being such a recent and seismic shift in the continents history and culture. The 2003 film Goodbye Lenin imagined a life interrupted by a coma that spans the change from communist rule of East Germany and into the free world of modern Germany all unbeknown to the sufferer. It is this straddling of two very different philosophies that new Slovenian film The State of Shock echoes most closely.
Starting in 1986 and communist rule Yugoslavia we meet our protagonist Peter, a factory metal-worker, and his wife Marica on the eve of Labourer’s Day. Their humble yet happy lives come to a halt when, at the Labourer Day ceremony Peter is awarded the Worker of the Year award complete with the promise of a new apartment as well as the respect of his community. All this proves too much for Peter to take and he swiftly falls into the titular state of shock.
Taken to a mental institution there he stays for 10 years, oblivious to the family visits as much as the passing years. Marica decides to re-marry and it is the thought of this union with his best friend Jovo which shakes Peter’s subconscious awakening him from his catatonic state and propelling him out on to the dramatically changed streets of Slovenia.
No longer under Yugoslav rule, the newly established state is all new to our comatose comrade, confronted by a world that looks familiar but undeniably altered where his old street no longer exists and neither does his country as he knew it. His beloved Balkan state now shimmers with the material world of capitalism while his, now former, wife is shacked up with what he thought was his best friend and taken the children with her. It’s Peter’s acclimatisation to these changes, both personal and national that form the crux of the film.
Trying to adapt to his new position as lodger in his ex’s marital home brings its own complications but writer/director Andrej Kosak’s focus is on the broader scale changes in ‘Pero’s homeland. Acting almost as a requiem to a lost ideal, State of Shock highlights the flaws and absurdity of a modern consumerist society. Through Peter’s fresh perspective we are allowed to sympathise with his perplexity at our established culture – why is there a need for shelves of screwdriver options, or three television sets and two cars - while his distrust of banks and outrage at incessant beurocracy are poignantly relevant in these mistrusting times.
This tale of a lost humanity serves as stark warning about where we are heading with Peter’s ending speech delivered as a message directly to the viewer, one portrayed in 1996 but still relevant today. This, no doubt, is Kosak’s aim – a pertinent take on modern society full of characters with heart and strong performances and told with enough humour to keep it fresh.
Matthew Walsh
Rating: 15
UK Release Date: 30th September 2012 (Raindance Film Festival)
Directed By: Andrej Kosak
Cast: Martin Marion, Urska Hlebec, Nikola Kojo, Aleksandra Balmazovic
Stanje šoka / State of Shock (napovednik / trailer) from vertigo emotionfilm on Vimeo.
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