Marshal Tito's Spirit

Marshal Tito's Spirit (Croatian: Maršal) is a 1999 Croatian film directed by Vinko Brešan. It was Croatia's submission to the 73rd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[1]^[2]

Synopsis

The film centers on the Croatian island of Vis in 1998. During the funeral of a local Yugoslav Partisan veteran, his elderly comrades start seeing the ghost of Marshal Josip Broz Tito. After rumours about the apparition spread around, a Split-based policeman who goes by the name Stipan is ordered to investigate the suspicious movements of SUBNOR [sr] members in his hometown, a remote Adriatic island whose only connection with the mainland is a ferry that comes around once a week.

Stipan's investigation goes awry, because the leader of former local fighters, Marinko Čičin, considers him a traitor to socialism and a collaborator with the enemy, while locals only speculate of what happened. Stipan learns about the ghost of Comrade Tito from a middle-aged married couple of painters from Zagreb who are looking for inspiration on the island. After a week of investigation, Stipan returns to Split on a ferry together with a large group of locals. The Split mayor Luka, who had previously privatized all state objects in the town, smells a business opportunity and begins organizing communist-era events to attract tourism (May Day parades, Relay of Youth, etc.) and maximise profits. Local Partisan veterans of the 7th Dalmatian Brigade led by Marinko decide to take arms and control the town, turning it into the communist-era shape. The island becomes a pilgrimage destination for retired fighters, who come in droves from the mainland to the island in belief that the time has come for the return of socialism.

Cast

Dražen Kühn as Stipan
Linda Begonja as Slavica
Ilija Ivezić as Marinko Cicin
Ivo Gregurević as Luka
Boris Buzančić as Jakov
Ljubo Kapor as Bura
Inge Appelt as Mare
Bojan Navojec as Miuko
Predrag Vušović as Toni
Boris Svrstan as Lijan Mulderić
Ksenija Pajić as Danica Skulić

Awards and nominations

The film received 3 nominations and won 9 awards at various international film festivals.^[3] Among them, Vinko Brešan won the Best Director Award at the 36th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.^[4]