Vinko Möderndorfer : Wie im Film

Dolg opis

Twelve-year-old Bruno, the first-person narrator of Möderndorfer’s youth novel Like in a Film, is a clever lad whose life is unsettled by adolescent trials stemming not least from the primitive bullying of his classmates. The novel contains titled chapters, and these descriptive titles for the most part announce the main conflict of each chapter. The time frame is narrowed down to a few intensive months in which Bruno essentially grows up. Told through Bruno’s perspective, the novel relates his feelings and his observations in his new and unexpected circumstances. For example, he soon notices that something is terribly wrong at home. Mom is increasingly prone to suspicion and turned inward, while Dad is increasingly away from home for no explained reason.

Because Bruno has a rich imagination – although he already has an inkling of the reasons for the chaotic family situation – he thinks up darkly humorous scenes in which his family members appear as caricatured film heroes. The internet also helps him, serving as an immense source of information and the only true connection to the sympathy of his classmate Tina. When his family breaks up, Bruno’s father takes him to live with the bizarre but friendly acquaintance Max, who, along with a cow named Catherine the Great and some chickens, lives in a colourful house in the woods. Bruno’s life – in a world without the internet and television, but with many books and plenty of life wisdom – drastically changes. These new adult relationships also affect Bruno’s life, especially the truth about his father, a truth adults had previously concealed from him. Like in a Film is a novel about taking leave of childhood and about growing up; were it not for nature, books, paintings and pigs, it might well be a tragic novel.