“My father said: ‘Beat your children as soon as you notice that they look like you.’ Fortunately, I didn’t look like him, so I avoided a spanking! Now I look like him, but, unfortunately, there’s no one left to beat me,” somewhat jokingly, and somewhat wist- fully, says the great director Miloš Radović at the be- ginning of this interview, speaking about his great father, Duško Radović. We are talking on the occasion of the film “Tra- in Driver’s Diary”, which will compete for an Oscar in the category of Best Foreign Language Film! This is a great opportunity for Miloš, but for him, the actu- al film is more important than the awards. That’s be- cause “Train Driver’s Diary” is a story about himself, about his father Duško, about the main actor Lazar Ri- stovski, about people here and there... However, it is mostly about those who drive trains and trample peo- ple on the tracks. It is about innocent murderers... In the film you have tried to explain how tra- in drivers are the victims of their victims ... Can they be happy in life carrying such a burden on their souls, even when the blame, objectively, doesn’t exist? - Happiness is a matter of luck. Do you have the luck to be born with the ability to find a cure for unha- ppiness in humour, like train drivers. Or in indifferen- ce, like politicians. When you meet them, it seems to you that they do a simple and easy job. That’s becau- se they were forced to learn about life from the rear side and to adapt to it. To carry favour with it, to spare themselves a little. While you were shooting the film, train drivers told you the story of a certain Mr Jeftić, who, while he was unhappy, failed to kill himself four times, and then he was run over by a bus while happy and cheerful. Do you believe that our li- ves are in our hands? - Neither the slightest nor the simplest things are in our hands, let alone life itself. We do not even know what has happened, let alone what will happen. The story of Jeftić is a story about everyone: he always leapt from the same rock under the train. And he always missed the mark. He jumped too short or too long. Never in the cen- tre. In the end, they called this rock “Jeftić’s rock”. Thus it was named in honour of Jeftić, to remind everyone of how lucky Jeftić was and how much his mistakes preserved his life. That’s also how it is with us – we can hope that we will have enough luck not to make too big a mistake. Why did you choose this precise topic? Was it because you and lead actor Lazar Ristovski come from families of railway workers? - My grandfather Uglješa, as his name suggests, was a train driver. When he put on his formal suit, he looked like an admiral. That was the romantic time of trains. And Lazar’s father was a railwayman. Most train drivers come from families of train drivers, with this calling being inherited. Why would a parent want such a difficult path for their child? - That’s a tradition. The answer to your difficult question is that parenting is perhaps not so compli- cated: perhaps a train driver parent fears that his
„Dnevnik mašinovođe“ Miloša Radovića priča je o onima koji voze vozove i gaze ljude po prugama. O nevinim ubicama…
“Train Driver’s Diary” by Miloš
Radović is the story of those who drive trains and trample people on the tracks. About innocent killers...
Lazar Ristovski u sceni iz filma Lazar Ristovski in a scene from the film
Moj deda Uglješa bio je mašinovođa. Kada obuče svečano odelo, izgledao je kao admiral My grandfather Uglješa was a train driver. When he put on his formal suit, he looked like an admiral
– Ni najmanje ni najjednostavnije stvari nisu u na- šim rukama, a kamoli život. Mi ne znamo ni šta se do- godilo, a kamoli šta će se dogoditi. Priča o Jeftiću je priča o svima: on se uvek bacao sa iste stene pod voz. I uvek je promašivao. Skoči prekratko ili predugačko. Nikad u centar. Na kraju su tu stenu prozvali Jeftiće- va stena. Tako je prozvana u slavu Jeftića, da svakog podseća na to koliko je Jeftić imao sreće i koliko su mu greške sačuvale život. Tako je i sa nama. Možemo da se nadamo da ćemo imati dovoljno sreće da ne na- pravimo preveliku grešku. Vi i glavni glumac Lazar Ristovski dolazite iz porodica železničara? – Moj deda Uglješa, kao što mu ime kaže, bio je mašinovođa. Kada obuče svečano odelo, izgledao je kao admiral. To je bilo romantično vreme vozova. I
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