''The Way to Paradise'' () is a 1970 Croatian film directed by Mario Fanelli and written by

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...

, starring

Boris Buzančić Boris Buzančić (13 March 1929 – 9 October 2014) was a Croatian actor and politician who served as the 47th Mayor of Zagreb between 1990 and 1993. A native of Bjelovar, Buzančić began acting very early. He appeared in numerous films and TV ...

and

Ljuba Tadić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Tadić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Љуба Тадић; 31 May 1929 – 28 October 2005) was a Yugoslav actor who enjoyed a reputation as one of the greatest names in the history of former Yugoslav cinema. Biography He made his scr ...

. Krleža based the script on his own

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

s ''The Cricket under a Waterfall'' and ''The Finale''. It was the first film adaptation of his literary work, and the only one he was personally involved with.

Plot

A man dies and goes to heaven, escaping the predicament of the modern civilisation. However, once there, he encounters similar people and situations.

Cast

as Professor Bernardo Leander *

as the doctor * Zvonko Strmac as chief physician * Mato Grković as priest from the sarcophagus *

Snežana Nikšić Snežana Nikšić ( sr-cyr, Снежана Никшић, 30 November 1943 – 2 April 2022) was a Serbian film and television actress. She was born in Niš, part of Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, German-occupied Serbia. She was ma ...

as Miss Amalija *

Svjetlana Knežević Svetlana () is a common Orthodox Slavic feminine given name, deriving from the East and South Slavic root ''svet'' (), meaning "light", "shining", "luminescent", "pure", "blessed", or "holy", depending upon context similar if not the same as t ...

as Marijana *

Zvonko Lepetić Zvonimir "Zvonko" Lepetić (17 November 1928 – 4 January 1991) was one of the leading character actors of Croatian and Yugoslav cinema and television. Lepetić was born in Berane, Montenegro. Since 1939, he lived in Sarajevo, where he graduated f ...

as Ensign Bandera * Jovan Ličina as chief physician's patient * Branko Supek as Cadet Rizling *

Relja Bašić Relja Bašić (14 February 1930 – 7 April 2017) was a Croatian actor. With a career that lasted more than half a century, he is considered one of the most prolific performers of that country. Biography Bašić was born on 14 February 1930 i ...

as Kristian Pendrekovski * Viktor Starčić as Baron Silvester *

Dragan Milivojević Dragan Milivojević (5 November 1938 - 22 October 1993) was a Croatian actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1960 to 1992. Selected filmography References External links * 1938 births 1993 deaths Actors from Podgorica C ...

as first councillor to the embassy *

Antun Nalis Antun Nalis (9 February 1911 – 14 February 2000), a.k.a. Tonči Nalis, was a Croatian actor. Antun Nalis was born in Zadar, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. After World War I Zadar became part of Italy, which later helped Nalis to ...

as surgeon *

Vladimir Medar Vladimir Medar (1923–1978) was a Croatian film actor, film and television actor. He played the title role in the 1962 Italian adventure film Taras Bulba, the Cossack''.Kinnard & Crnkovich p.168 Selected filmography * ''Barba Zvane'' (1949) - S ...

as chemist * Branka Strmac as the lady with the black hat * Ljiljana Gazdić as the woman who committed suicide from a window

Reception

The film was poorly received at the time of its release. Croatian cinema historian

Ivo Škrabalo Ivo Škrabalo (; 19 February 1934 – 18 September 2011) was a Croatian film critic, screenwriter, and member of parliament. Škrabalo was born in Sombor, where he finished elementary and high school before moving to Zagreb in 1952. He enrolled at ...

described it as a film where "Krležian rhetoric was not completed by suggestive development of the plot, so that one could hear only an outpouring of words on the screen, without connected connotations found in literature." The film did not enter competition at the 1971

Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival ( hr, Pulski filmski festival) is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held in ...

. Krleža disagreed with the critics of ''The Way to Paradise'' who had argued that extensive "meditative dialogue" dominated the film, maintaining his belief that "the human word in a film is equivalent to camera" and that without it, film is "merely

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

and nothing else". Nevertheless, he was disappointed by the reception, and denied permissions for film adaptations of his works for the rest of his life.

References

External links

* 1970 films Croatian drama films 1970s Croatian-language films Yugoslav drama films Jadran Film films Films about the afterlife {{Croatia-film-stub