Review of Slogans (2001) by Jens T — 06 Jul 2013

Gjergj Xhuvani's Slogans is set during Evner Hoxha's communist dictatorship in the late seventies where we follow Andre, a liberal-minded school teacher from Tirana who's been transferred to a small village, a village that are brainwashed by communist ideology and where every wrong step gets you into trouble, even an illiterate farmer doesn't get away. The children is forced into making communist slogans with rocks as letters in every slopes in the village. With slogans such as "The American Imperialism is a Paper Tiger".

Slogans might be a light film, considering some might say that things was much worse during the Hoxha era. This is more of a black comedy that shows us the ridiculousness of the whole communist paranoia. I really liked the illiterate farmer, who doesn't seem to know anything of what's going on in the world, but are still a victim after his goats walks over the slogans in the hills. He's just so cute and vulnerable. It's also interesting to see how Andre is bonding with the children and how much they respect him, and the forbidden love between Andre and his colleague Diana. Overall, It's an enjoyable film with a lot of heart, but with a laughable bureaucracy. Thumbs up.