FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
THE GREAT WATER
A well-known Macedonian politician, Lem Nikodinoski, remembers his childhood in an
orphanage after World War II, where he has been send to be reeducated; his intellectual parents,
"enemies of the Revolution," oppose the communist government in power. There, Lem (Saso
Kekenovski) meets the charming and mysterious 13-year-old Isak (Maja Stankovska), and they
become best friends. When trying to give a larger than life air to Isak, the film loses ground,
and a few times makes no sense. Yet the film is extremely effective in depicting the conditions in
which the children live. Especially chilling is the assistant headmaster, Komrade Olivera, a
young woman who is a fanatical admirer of Stalin and fervent believer in the party's every truth.
When she can't find the red shorts she won at a sports competition, she puts all the girls in a
freezing room, naked, until they confessed who has stolen them. And another effective scene
involves Lem, who commits a terrible crime: he asks the headmaster a probing question. As he
stands in front of the classroom, the headmaster asks the class what Lem's punishment should be.
Each of the children's responses, such as "saboteur" and "traitor to the party," suggest
punishments ranging from being locked in the cellar to death. And they are not kidding.
All in all, it is a powerful film, especially when dealing with the fate of these orphaned children,
sufferers of abuse and indoctrination. The film is weaker when dealing with Lem and
Isak's friendship and the supposedly heroic figure of Isak. The performances are good,
especially by Kekenovski and Stankovska, who give their characters more depth than the
screenplay supplies. Verica Nedeska is excellent as Olivera, whose unquestioned fanaticism and
violent reactions haunt the protagonists - and the viewer - for a long time. Roxana M. Ramirez
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