_________________ (Continuation of the film as below)
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Man with the Ball (1977) is a production of Kinostudio "Alxqipëria e Re", based on the novel of the same title by the Albanian writer Dritero Agolli.
Director : Viktor Gjika, Screenplay : Viktor Gjika, Producer: New Albania, Music: Limos Dizdari.
INTERPRETING: Timo Flloko……..Mato Elida Cangonji……..Zana, the wife of Mato Stavri short……..Murati Drita Pelingu……..aunt Esmaja Zef Bushati……..Agushi Kadri Roshi……..old man Mere Sandër Prosi……..Milona, miller Thimi Filipi……..Faredini, nephew of old Mere Birçe Hasko……… Mr. Tosum Enea Zheku……..Ziguri Piro Qiqi…….. Mehmet Bela…….. Thoma Pesha…….. Pandi Siku…… ..Adnand Pinxho Drini Hila…….. Petraq Xhillari…….. Nikolla Llambro…….. Alfred Bualoti…….. Nevzati in episodes Arben Imami. …..Abazi, grandson of old Mere Lida Hoxha……Shega, granddaughter of old Mere Enver Dauti……hoxha of the village
The author took the subject of the novel from the feud between the Manuka and Mera tribes in the villages of Arapi i Poshtëm and Lishani i Poshtëm. The notes of one of the members of the Mera family, on the history of the feud between the two tribes, served as an indication for the creation of the work and then the film, which builds its entire plot on a light artillery cannon found after the fall of fascist Italy and the main purpose of its use was to take revenge on the "opposing" house. In the film, Mato Gruda lives in enmity with the family of the old man Mere Fizi. Mato has hidden the artillery ball that he dreams of using against Mere Fizi, and even took home an Italian named Agush as a prisoner, who teaches him how to use the ball.
"The war has engulfed the whole country, we are sent to the towers and our minds are working on jealousy, how and how to ambush each other…" (Dritëro Agolli, Njeju me top, "Naim Frashëri" publishing house, 1975, pg. 54)
« At first he did not feel this despair, because his being was still numbed by the narcosis of revenge. Man, when he is drunk, is grotesque and extravagant, makes noise and gives way to many unbridled passions. But when the drink comes out in the morning, he falls into a deep despair, because he remembers the previous night. Not only that. In the morning you feel yourself without any energy, without any thoughts, without any passion. Boredom and indifference overwhelm him. (Dritëro Agolli, Man with the ball, "Naim Frashëri" publishing house, 1975, pp. 131-132)
"To hell with this job too!" I better not hit the mark. The black man tries, plows the fields, sows the field, builds the house, has children and then a cracker comes out with a gun and turns you into ashes! The man then remains forever lying with the tips of his feet up. How far have those legs walked! […] Desolate man! He finds evil from his likeness, from man. Why, man, should it be like this? To be different, very different. Then Mato Gruda was overcome by despair again as he looked at the smoking mill. How could I not shoot him at least with a gun! Fizet saved me for two or three meters! Even death is necessary, because it cleanses people from evil spirits. She does not let them grow too much and cover the good souls. (Dritëro Agolli, Man with the ball, "Naim Frashëri" publishing house, 1975, pg. 129)
« The general logical scheme of this film resembles other films of the era which develop a certain propaganda against the canon, the power of the Catholic priest and murders among people. For example, the power of the Catholic priest that appears in the film "Light Commissioner" (Dhimitër Anagnosti, Viktor Gjika, 1966) is replaced in "The Ball Man" by the power of Hoxha and the Islamic religion, materialized in social norms and especially in figures of Fize's great grandfather. Dritan Shkaba is the teacher, the commissioner and the enlightened one who brings the rays of knowledge to the highlands ruled by the Bajraktars and the Catholic clergy. The teacher who fights with a rifle and a pen, and therefore he is both a commissar and a light-hunger. Mato Gruda is a man blinded by hatred, uneducated and uncultivated, stuck between feelings of revenge and the desire or pressure to side with the partisans. "Ehhh, the old man Mere Fizi lives, he lives. He lives with his twelve grandchildren. They say there is a God. Hehh, there is no God. If he had, he would have taken old Mere for all the bad things he has done." – are the words of Mato Gruda at the beginning of the film. Personal interest against national interest, this is the almost ubiquitous tension in our cinema, while the proposed solution is to forget about taking blood and going to war alongside the partisans. Mllefi asserting that there is no God, a formula sanctioned in the 1976 Constitution (Article 37: "The state does not recognize any religion and supports and develops atheistic propaganda to inculcate in people the scientific materialistic worldview.") deprives God of his attributes as a benchmark. universal and eternal notions of good, salvation, divine and earthly right. God died and with him all the old tradition. The death of God paves the way for the birth of another, institutional, modern, authoritarian, bureaucratic justice. And when these also die, the big crap that accompanies people is that of the dilemma between self-judgment and complaining to institutions with the faint hope that one day things will change.
"The man with the ball stolen from the fascists, lives his days with hatred towards Fize. Disregarding major national events, profane believer sympathizer of communism, Mato Gruda still sticks to his obsession to pay off the weight of revenge that has been weighing on him for a long time and where the shadows of his dead dance. "The road from my house to Fizet is watered with blood. Nothing can grow there but revenge. Blood does not become water." Only after he is in front of the confrontations in the village square between Balli and the Partisans where it is being investigated who fired a cannon at Fizet, Mato is overcome by a feeling of embarrassment and shame. His vengeful initiative has put his partisan friends in front of the accusation that they are the ones who fired the cannon, as people who commit crimes, who shoot people's houses and who want blood and bloodshed. Mato is reluctant to tell the truth in the middle of the village. Finally, the survivors of the conflict have the right to know who shot at their tribe. Hiding and keeping silent is a cowardly act of Matos who wants to get out without getting wet, even this act tries to be interpreted as if it was done by the partisans. Yes, this act is also a violation of the norms of revenge or a violation of the right to know where the bullet comes from. In this effort, he tries to corrupt Murat as well, claiming that he owns something, something that will fix things with Fize. An offer to make Murat a co-coward. For a moment, his conscience speaks in a low voice, affirming to himself that he is the man who shot the Fizet with a cannon, that the partisans are innocent and that Tosun Baçi as an accuser is a liar. Like all cowards who have the power of the stupidity of death over others, the character of Mato Gruda thrives on these internal conflicts related to the most human aspects to the narrowly personal ones, held in tension by anxiety, fear and desire. »
For more detailed information, see the film tab below (Albanian Film 1957 – 1985 / "8 Nentori" Publishing House – Tirana / A. T Hoxha): __________________ Albanian cinematography in activity since 2013
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