Montenegro (film)

Montenegro
Directed by	Dušan Makavejev
Produced by	Christer Abrahamsen Bo Jonsson George Zecevic
Written by	Dušan Makavejev Branko Vucicevic
Starring	Susan Anspach Erland Josephson Marianna Jacobi Jamie Marsh John Zacharias Bora Todorović Per Oscarsson Svetozar Cvetković
Music by	Kornell Kovach
Cinematography	Tomislav Pinter
Editing by	Sylvia Ingemarsson
Release date(s)	1981
Running time	96 min
Country	Sweden
Language	English

Montenegro also known as Montenegro - Or Pigs and Pearls (Swedish: Montenegro eller Pärlor och Svin) is a Swedish black comedy film by Yugoslav director Dušan Makavejev.

Plot summary

Marianne Faithfull sings The Ballad of Lucy Jordan over the credit sequence.

Marilyn Jordan (Susan Anspach) is a bored, depressed American housewife, married to a rich Swedish businessman with two seemingly perfect children. Slowly showing signs of mental illness from the mundane routine of her life, she tries to "spice up" her existence by surprising the family when she eats their entire dinner, setting the bedclothes on fire and poisoning the pet dog's milk and then advising it not to drink (the dog does not drink). Eventually Martin, Marilyn's husband, decides to show her to a psychiatrist, but that only serves to further her frustration.

One day, when she decides to accompany her husband on a business trip, Marilyn gets detained by security at the airport on a technicality. After missing her plane, she is befriended by a group of gypsies and is taken to a club they run, bearing the odd name of "Zanzi-Bar." There, Marilyn indulges in their fantastic, surreal world of shovel fighting, lamb roasting, striptease and free love. It all culminates with Marilyn having a passionate fling with a young man named Montenegro (Svetozar Cvetkovic) who works in a zoo.

After spending the night with Montenegro, Marilyn realizes that even though she adores this world, she is a stranger in it. Completely snapping upon this realization, she kills the young man and returns home. Once there, she serves her family and the obnoxious psychiatrist a gourmet dinner, followed by a light dessert of fruit... that turns out to be poisoned. The final intertitle states: The film is based on a true story.

Cast

• Susan Anspach - Marilyn Jordan
• Erland Josephson - Martin Jordan
• Marianna Jacobi - Cookie Jordan
• Jamie Marsh - Jimmy Jordan (as Jamie Marsh)
• John Zacharias - Grandpa Bill
• Per Oscarsson - Dr. Aram Pazardjian
• Marina Lindahl - Secretary
• Bora Todorović - Alex Rossignol
• Lisbeth Zachrisson - Rita Rossignol
• Svetozar Cvetković - Montenegro
• Patricia Gélin - Tirke
• Dragan Ilić - Hassan
• Nikola Janić - Mustapha
• Mile Petrović - Zanzi Bar Customer
• John Parkinson - Piano Player

Awards and nominations

Montenegro was nominated for the Golden Palm Award at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

References

1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Montenegro". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1742/year/1981.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 

External links

• Montenegro at the Internet Movie Database
• Montenegro at Rotten Tomatoes