Srdán Kecak’s quiet observational documentary Revolution Museum is set at the pole of a former utopian architectural project: a monument in Yugoslavia intended to serve as a socialist gathering space. The building was abandoned in his late 1970s, and now the unfinished basement is home to a small community of homeless people.
The film opens with archival footage of a mid-century construction site, but quickly transforms to showcase a series of haunting footage of the present-day museum, dark, damp and littered with rubble. Successive scenes focus on her three inhabitants of this space. An older woman named Mara, a boisterous child named Milika, and Milika’s tired mother Bella, who earns money by scraping the windshields of cars stopped at red lights on the highway.
Much of the film unfolds without dialogue. Minutes pass as Mara and Milika enjoy their time together and enjoy their alone time. The dialogue we received provides a snippet of the women’s life stories. We know that Mara is estranged from her daughter, that Bella’s husband is incarcerated, and that her Child Welfare Services have previously attempted to usurp Milika’s custody at least once. know.
Keka creates ephemeral atmospheres by capturing women while they are waiting and depicting them across seasons, spaces, and time zones. This is a gripping documentary, one that questions the ethics of intervening (or not intervening) in the lives of those struggling to survive. That these questions float unresolved may unsettle the viewer, but it also puts us by the side of the subject, waiting for solutions that have yet to arrive. There is also.
revolution museum
Unrated. Serbo-Croatian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. at the theater.
