Seventy-Two Days

The Paripović family lives in Lika. The village is remote and empty. The family’s only income is a pension. The money comes from America. Their grandfather Đurađ had earned it. After he died his widow Neđa drew it. Then Neđa dies as well. The income stops at once. The household cannot stand without it. Mane, who heads the family, finds a way. His son Todor and his brother Jojo are in on it. The plan is to put someone in the grandmother’s place. The film makes a black comedy out of that. Danilo Šerbedžija wrote the screenplay in 1999, from a story he had heard in a barracks. It was his first feature and took three Golden Arenas at Pula. Rade Šerbedžija and Bogdan Diklić appear in the ninety three minute film, a Croatian and Serbian production finished in 2010.