Vatroslav Mimica

25.06.1923, Omiš - 15.02.2020, Zagreb

 

Director

Vatroslav Mimica was born on June 25, 1923 in Omiš. He studied medicine in Zagreb. From 1942 he was an illegal member of SKOJ (socialist party of former Yugoslavia), and a year later joined the war. After the war he published literary and theatre critiques and was one of the editors of magazine Izvori. He started to work in the film industry in 1950 as a director of Jadran film. He made his debut with the film U oluji (1952). After that he made a comedy Jubilej gospodina Ikla (1955). Together with Vladimir Tadej, in
1957, he wrote scripts for many animated films made by Zagreb film. In that same year he made his first animated film Strašilo (Scarecrow). Then followed a number of animated films - Samac (The Loner, 1958), Happy End (1958), Inspektor se vratio kući (The Inspector Is Back!, 1959), Kod fotografa (At the Photographer's, 1959), Jaje (The Egg, 1959), Mala kronika (A Little Story, 1962), Tifusari (Typhoid Sufferers, 1963), that achieved great success all over the world (winning awards in many international film festivals) and he became one of the leading members of Zagrebačka škola animiranog filma. He was the screenwriter of the animated films Muha (Aleksandar Marks and Vladimir Jutriša, 1966), Krotitelj divljih konja (Nedjeljko Dragić, 1966) and Pozivnica (Branko Ranitović, 1970). In 1961 in Italy he directed a
spectacle film Solimano il conquistatore (1961), and afterwards in Zagreb he made successful short films Telefon (1962) and Ženidba gospodina Marcipana (1963). After directing the animated film Vatrogasci (The Fireman, 1971) he fully devoted himself to feature films. He made the film Prometej s otoka
Viševice
(1965) which won him the Big Golden Arena and the Silver Arena for best director at the film festival in Pula. This film also won an award on the film festival in Moscow. Then followed the films Ponedjeljak ili utorak (Monday or Tuesday, 1966), Kaja, ubit ću te! (Kaya, I'll Kill You, 1967) and Događaj (An Event, 1969).
All these films are an important part of the creative rise of auteur film on the territory of former Yugoslavia in the 1960’s. Afterwards folowed Hranjenik (The Fed One, 1970), Makedonski dio pakla (1971), and Posljednji podvig diverzanta Oblaka (The Last Mission of Demolitions Man Cloud, 1978), in which his preoccupation with war themes, the fight for physical and spiritual freedom, Golgotha and the revolutionary ethics is evident. A separate group of his works is made up of films Seljačka buna 1573 – awarded with the Big Bronze Arena in Pula – and his last
feature film Banović Strahinja (The Falcon, 1981). He also directed for television.

Filmography

Banović Strahinja (1981)
Posljednji podvig diverzanta Oblaka (1978)
Seljačka buna 1573 (1973)
Makedonskiot del od pekolot (1971)
Vatrogasci (animated film) (1971)
Hranjenik (1970)
Događaj (1969)
Kaja, ubit cu te! (1967)
Ponedjeljak ili utorak (1966)
Prometej s otoka Viševice (1964)
Tifusari (animated film) (1963)
Ženidba gospodina Marcipana (short feature) (1963)
Mala kronika (animated film) (1962)
Telefon (short feature) (1962)
Perpetuum mobile ltd (animated) (1961)
Tvrđava Samograd / Solimano il conquistatore (1961)
Inspektor se vratio kuci (animated film) (1959)
Jaje (animated film) (1959)
Kod fotografa (animated film) (1959)
Samac (animated film) (1958)
Happy End (animated film) (1958)
Strasilo (animated film) (1957)
Jubilej gospodina Ikla (1955)
U oluji (1952)


Films by this director

U oluji

(Croatia, Yugoslavia, 1952)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Frano Vodopivec
Synopsis:

The setting is the ambience of Dalmatia. The film follows the destiny of a widow, Roza, who attempts suicide. As the story unfolds we find out her motives for this desperate act… The first feature film by Vatroslav Mimica starring the brilliant Mia Oremović.

b/w, digital restauracija, 87'

Hranjenik

(1970)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

World War II. Hungry concentration camp inmates are victims of a permanent torture of the capo, an inmate who decided to cooperate with Germans. Other inmates are too weak to resist. So, they pick out the strongest among them and start giving him all the food, in order to make him strong enough to kill the capo. But soon, the chosen inmate turns against his friends…

color, 88 min

Makedonskiot del od pekolot

(Makedonskiot del od pekolot / Македонски дел од пеколот, 1971)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kiro Bilbilovski
Synopsis:

The story is set in a village Lavci close to Bitola, and is about a teacher who initiated a partisan rebellion against Bulgarian occupation. This film is on one hand a story about this horrifying occupation and its goals (breaking down Macedonians and turning them into Bulgarians), and on the other the legend of a Macedonian teacher who tried to inspire people to rebel against this, (a teacher who was brutally killed – burned down in a stable after refusing to surrender; there is a legend that o...

color, 102 min

Posljednji podvig diverzanta Oblaka

(1978)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Božidar Nikolić
Synopsis:

Oblak is a war hero who fought against fascists in Spain, and afterwards joined partisans in Yugoslavia. His house is famous as a museum of some sort – a memorial to his heroic deeds. But, its surroundings have been devastated by skyscrapers. Oblak soon confronts a famous football player and decides to sue him. After that Oblak receives threats that his house will be the next one torn down and that a skyscraper will be built in it’s place. But, Oblak is persistent and decides to fight the inhuma...

color, digital, 108 min

Banović Strahinja

(Croatia, 1981)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Branko Ivatović
Synopsis:

While Banović Strahinja hunts, Alija and his gang attack Strahinja’s castle. He kills everyone in the castle, and takes away Strahinja’s wife, Anđa. On their way he tries to charm her. She resists for a long time, but finally gives in. Soon, Strahinja finds the outlaws’ camp and kills Alija in a duel. Anđa goes to her father to accept her punishment – the gouging of her eyes. She is taken to a temple where this cruel ritual will be performed. Strahinja is also there. Everyone believes that he is...

color, digital, 105 min

Seljačka buna 1573.

(Croatia, 1975)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Branko Blažina
Synopsis:

In the winter of 1573, there is a peasant uprising against the terrorism of landowner Franjo Tahi. The leaders are Matije Gubec and Ilija Gregorić. The rebels are in contact with Slovenian peasants and the uprising soon becomes an anti-feudal movement. One of its members is the young Petrek, who becomes close to Regica, a traveling actress…

35 mm, color, 161 minuta

Prometej s otoka Viševice

(Jadran film, 1964)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tomislav Pinter
Synopsis:

Mate Bakula, a middle-aged, run-down executive of an important company from Zagreb travels with his wife to his native island Viševica to unveil a monument dedicated to the local Partisans. While at home, memories from the past torment him: his Partisan youth, his first love/wife and his misunderstood enthusiasm concerning the introduction of electricity to the island.

b/w, 35 mm, 95'

Događaj

(Jadran film, 1969)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Frano Vodopivec
Synopsis:

A grandfather and his 12-year-old grandson, who live in a secluded house, go to the fair to sell a horse. The path leads them through the forest, in which there is an atmosphere of some threatening foreboding. At the fair, the boy notices a girl, his age, who attracts his attention. After selling the horse, the grandfather catches the eye of the insidious bandit Matijević, who persuades the local lugar to follow him in order to get his money. The grandfather notices that they are being followed...

color, 35mm, 93'

Jubilej gospodina Ikla

(Jadran film, 1955)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Oktavijan Miletić
Synopsis:

Zagreb, 1929. Industrialist Ikl wakes up in horror in a morgue and realizes that he has been buried alive. He escapes from the cemetery and returns home where he discovers that his attractive wife and relatives have turned his funeral into a party. They are getting drunk and celebrating his death while hoping for a part of the inheritance… 

b/w, restored 35 mm copy, 74 min

Monday or Tuesday

(Jadran film, 1966)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tomislav Pinter
Synopsis:

Razvedeni novinar Marko Požgaj započinje (radni) dan odvodeći sina u školu. Tijekom dana kroz svijest mu prolaze brojne misli i slike, sjećanja na djetinjstvo, bivša supruga, sadašnja djevojka, a ponajprije u ratu stradali otac...

b/w and color, 35 mm, 77'

Kaja, ubit ću te

(Jadran film, Croatia, 1967)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Frano Vodopivec
Synopsis:

The film has english subtitles.

color, 35 mm, 81'

Strašilo

(Yugoslavia: Croatia, 1957 | Mjesto prikazivanja filma: Kulturno informativni centar KIC (Preradovićeva ul. 5))

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Crtež: Ivo Kušanić, Animacija: Vladimir Jutriša
Synopsis:

Usamljeno strašilo ima veliku želju biti prijatelj pticama, no one ga ignoriraju. Njegova će hrabrost u određenom trenutku u potpunosti izmijeniti ptičju perspektivu. Iako je Vatroslav Mimica, jedan od kasnijih prvaka modernističkog crtanog filma, ovaj animirani film napravio u diznijevskom stilu, koji je tada još uvijek dominirao u Zagreb filmu, već je u njemu vidljiva slobodna upotreba reducirane animacije, kojom se maštovito iznevjerava mimetička stvarnost. Straši...

color, digital restauracija, 10'

Samac

(Zagreb film, Croatia, 1958)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Uoči projekcije u utorak, 22. ožujka u 18:30, uvodnu riječ održat će filmolog dr. sc. Tomislav Šakić. Uredski činovnik živi bezvoljnim, automatiziranim životom ne primjećujući djevojku koja ga voli. U snu doživi prosvjetljenje i oslobađanje… Samac Vatroslava Mimice prvi je izrazito modernistički film zagrebačke škole crtanog filma i jedan od njenih kreativnih vrhunaca. Radnja filma smještena je u unutarnji, psihološki svijet te ispripovijedana stili...

color, digital restauracija, 12'

Happy End

(Yugoslavia: Croatia, 1958)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Crtež: Aleksandar Marks, Animacija: Vladimir Jutriša
Synopsis:

Na prvi pogled, film odaje dojam da se svijet nakon apokalipse polagano obnavlja do trenutka potpune obnove. Tada se kip Amora, koji je lutao svijetom  razlomljen u komade, vrati na svoje postolje. Međutim, dojam vara, jer se raznim signalima sugerira da se film zapravo vrti unazad… Iako, za razliku od Mimičinih filmova Strašilo i Samac,  ovaj crtić nije prikazan na glasovitoj projekciji u Cannesu 1958. kojom je inaugurirana zagrebačka škola crtanog...

color, digital restauracija, 10'

Kod fotografa

(Zagreb film, 1959)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Nakon niza neuspješnih pokušaja da nasmije mušteriju, fotograf odlučuje snimiti je ozbiljnu. Međutim slijedi neočekivana reakcija.

9 min

Ženidba gospodina Marcipana

(Zora film, 1963)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Oktavijan Miletić
Synopsis:

Satira na račun malograđanina koji je potpuno slijep za stvarnost, a život mu se sastoji od kupovanja svega onoga što odgovara njegovoj zamišljenoj slici.

11 min

Inspektor se vratio kući

(Zagreb film, 1959)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Pronašavši otisak prsta u svom stanu, inspektor se u potpunosti predaje potrazi. No tragovi ga vode u vlastiti stan.

color, 35 mm, 11'

Mala kronika

(Zagreb film, 1962)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Slijepac i pas probijaju se kroz zagušeni gradski promet. Iznenadna pogibija psa samo će potvrditi nezainteresiranost ljudi za pomoć u tragediji.

11 min

Jaje

(Zagreb film, 1959)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Uvaženi kipar, g. Paun, sneo je jaje. Uskoro stižu prijatelji i darivaju jaje onim što mu nedostaje. Svi su oduševljeni, stradalo je jedino jaje…

10 min

Tifusari

(Yugoslavia: Croatia, 1963)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Crtež: Aleksandar Marks, Animacija: Vladimir Jutriša
Synopsis:

Film predstavlja eksperimantalnu "slikovnicu" nastalu po motivima poeme Jure Kaštelana, prepun zanimljivih rješenja i začudnih minijatura.

color, digital restauracija, 14'

Perpetuum&Mobile, LTD

(Zagreb film, 1962)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Kratki crtani film o odnosu između čovjeka i stroja. Stroj može dominirati čovjekom i stoga treba tražiti rješenje koje njihov odnos pretvara u kreativnu suradnju.

4 min

Vatrogasci

(Adria film, 1971)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Synopsis:

Noću, na horizontu grada vide se odsjaji vatre od kuće koja gori. Vatrogasci stižu, ali ne stupaju u akciju, jer čekaju znak trube. A truba je zatajila.

11 min

Tvrđava Samograd

(Solimano il conquistatore, Italy Yugoslavia, 1961)

Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
PHOTOGRAPHY: Giuseppe La Torre
Synopsis:

Film, inspiriran bitkom kod Sigeta, govori o osvajačkom pohodu turske vojske Sulejmana Veličanstvenog na Europu u 16. st. Turska vojska, pod vodstvom Ibrahima Paše, ne uspijeva osvojiti utvrdu Siget, čijom obranom zapovijeda grof Orlović, te započinje mukotrpna opsada…. Vatroslav Mimica je u svojoj bogatoj karijeri režirao i jedan pseudo-povijesni spektakl za talijanskog naručitelja, tvrtku Cine Produzione Astoria. Ante Peterlić je Mimičinu Tvrđavu Samograd (Solimano il conquistatore) prozv...

color, 91 min
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