After the screening of Number 55 in Kosovel Hall last night, the viewers had the opportunity to chat with its director, Kristijan Milić, whose film depicts one of the true events that occurred during the Croatian Independence War. The director decided to focus on the event for two reasons – because the story is relatively unknown within the context of the patriotic war and because the action itself includes all the elements for a gripping film. In conversation with Toni Cahunek the filmmaker revealed that despite the resoundingly successful debut feature, Alive and Dead, he hadn’t expected to come away with flying colours at this year’s Pula Film Festival again. But destiny proved him wrong – the film that took 45 days in the making won as many as eight Golden Arena Awards. The audience wanted to know what the title meant – and the director explained that 55 was the number of the house, where the protagonists took shelter. Apart from which it’s a homage to Assault on Precinct No. 13by John Carpenter.

According to the director, there are dissenting opinions regarding the (real-life) Croatian military action – some find it daring, others excessively risky; many people believe that it prevented further devastation, then again, others claim that it was a marginal episode. Nevertheless, a group of soldiers launched an assault on a hill from which the city was besieged, and thus the action was far from insignificant. The true event only inspired the film’s basic narrative arc; otherwise the dramaturgical moment was paramount. It was impossible to follow historical sources faithfully, as the witnesses’ reports varied too much in order for them to be rendered consistent for the purposes of the script. 

Andraž Jež

Photo: Iztok Dimc
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