"Heavens Above"
Stojan (Goran Navojec) is as dull and simple as he's kindhearted. When a freak accident changing a light bulb puts a glowing halo above his head, he quickly becomes the new attraction around town. His strong-willed wife Nada (Ksenia Marinkovic) isn't at all amused about the unwanted attention amongst their neighbors. After several tries, nothing can remove the shining annoyance and turn her husband back to his former unremarkable self. Stojan, the unwilling saint, begins to like his new lifestyle and quickly turns to sinister crimes.
The protagonist Stojan can be seen as kind of a bad 'Jesus' figure as he takes on the sins of the world by rigorously committing them all. Stojan starts out as a genuinely good man. Almost a Saint. He gets rewarded with a halo. But is the halo God's mercy or just the Devil's cynical temptation? There's no direct answer to that question. He deeply suffers when his wife makes him perform a series of sins, from smaller ones to the biggest, mortal sins. She believes she's doing the right thing, she refuses to accept this as a gift from God. There are several layers of reasons for these actions. Stojan's wife Nada is, in a way, a metaphor of today's media; capable of turning any good man into a sinner. This is particularly true in transitional societies as ex-Yugoslavia, where the media became an instrument of out-of-control capitalism. The Catholic religion has 159 female saints out of 1486, a good illustration of male domination. The Eastern Orthodox religion has almost 300 female saints. St. Petka Is one of the most celebrated ones, especially in the Balkans. Besides the classic ones like giving eyesight to the blind, her miracles include one that superhero movie fans would find interesting; she could make herself invisible.
The second story of "Heavens Above" features a mentally challenged hero who worships St. Petka. He's sentenced to death and turns into a baby. However, the authorities still see him as a murderer and refuse to back off from the punishment. Some might find this story cynical. Does religion work better with the weak-minded? The point here can be that only a pure soul can see and reach God. Neoliberal capitalism simply cannot accept that art can just be the Artist's needing to say something about the world around them. That the primary goal is not to make money. The artist in "Heavens Above" sees his paintings that feed people as a curse. He wants his art to uplift people; not to fill their bellies. Unfortunately, we all are, one way or another, forced to think about that nutritious aspect. In the third chapter, after no sins managed to remove his halo, the hero turns into something that can perhaps be described as a demonic force. He becomes the president of a small East-European country. One has to be a sinner to get by in modern society. The film's metaphors widely mix religious and political agendas.
"Heavens Above" is a dark comedy told through three stories of one family and spanning over three decades (1993, 2001, 2026). The film explores the impact of miracles on modern society. Numerous characters reappear, intertwine, and affect each other's destinies in increasingly bizarre circumstances. The film delivers a wild and grotesque perspective on post-socialist eastern Europe that succeeds in showing the dark sides of progressive thinking patterns. The film revolves around a lot of religious issues and metaphors. A lot is an understatement. Maybe even a little too much for our own good. But, the film not expect the audience to understand everything. If you grow up in 'Atheist' society, in Socialism and whose sister is an Orthodox nun, they're all necessary. What's the true nature of God? Is it the one from the 'Old Testament' that punishes and asks for sacrifice or the God of love and mercy? Are we able to differ miracles as signs of God's mercy or the Devil's temptations? The 'Golden Calf' is also a really important metaphor in "Heavens Above". Is Christianity in today's world just praying to idols, money, glory, celebrities, and our hungry, selfish Egos?
While "Heavens Above" starts out as rather comical, things take a dark and dramatic turn in later chapters. As Life itself! It starts as a comedy, but the tragedy is inevitable. The film's duty is to manipulate the audience's emotions in a positive sense. This approach can be a two-edged sword. The audience is more drastically divided. But it's more a art-house films for the common working man who deserves more than simplified Hollywood or Netflix products. Sometimes the cinema's mission is to disturb the viewers. First entertain them, make them laugh, and gradually lead them into a completely different genre, making them feel uncomfortable for the laughs earlier. There are a lot of paintings and art installations scattered throughout. "Heavens Above". Each painting is a result of thorough discussions during which the film tries to envision the art through the perspective of the character, who's struggling with a severe mental disorder.
Once upon a time we had Surrealism. Today, we've superheroes. Miracles became an everyday thing, we see them all the time on the screen. But God's miracles are still all around us. Only it seems that we are no longer able to recognize them. There's one miracle in the film that unquestionably belongs only to God, and that's our will to sacrifice ourselves for someone else. It's, maybe, the biggest miracle of them all.
Written by Gregory Mann.
