Zvonimir Majcug (born 1959), better known by his pen name Zvonimir Maycug, is a Croatian film producer, director, screenwriter, actor, and writer. He is famous for producing the first Croatian and Yugoslav
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...
''Oaza''(Oasis) in 1984, which was banned. His film ''Kalvarija''(Calvary) also received notoriety.
Biography
Zvonimir Maycug was born in Zvonik in 1959. In middle school, he participated in film and photographic
extracurriculars. He started recording amateur film in 1974, and began writing scripts the following year. He completed his studies at the Zagreb Hotelier School. He recorded a tourist film in Germany, and a documentary film about clay potters who make water pots, in Marija Bistrica. Then he unsuccessfully tried to enroll at the Zagreb Academy of Film Art to study
film making
Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwriti ...
. During his compulsory
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Few nations, such ...
in the
Yugoslav Army, he wrote the script for his first film, ''Ja sam tvoj Bog'' (I am Your God). Upon finishing service, he
produced it in 1983, as the youngest film director in Yugoslavia. The film never entered popular
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
*Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
.
After recording the
hardcore pornographic film ''Oaza'' (Oasis) in 1984, he was sentenced to two years of
parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
and three months of prison if he made the same offense again. The decision was made by the County court in Zagreb by the judge Ranko Marijan on 20 December 1985. His defense argued that it was incorrectly classified as pornography, because the confiscated copy was not intended for publication. He recorded a different version in 1988 which had some success on the video market.
He recorded ''Kalvarija'' (Calvary), the first Croatian
gay film
This article lists lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer-related films involving participation and/or representation of LGBTQ people. The list includes films that deal with or feature significant LGBTQ issues or characters. These films may ...
, in 1997. Actors in his films were
amateurs
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist.
History
H ...
and friends. He recorded his films with a
low budget
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor.
Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced o ...
and took many roles in production. After recording ''Kalvarija'', he was left bankrupt. He had to sell his own family house to cover the debts caused by producing the little distributed film. This stopped his production of the film ''Blago kralja Tomislava'' (The Treasure of King Tomislav), and a film adaptation of his novel ''Noć kada su umirale ruže'' (The Night the Roses Were Dying). He hasn't been involved in writing, publishing or film since. He used to paint while he was in high school, and started earning money off it in the 1990s. His work was primarily
copies and
commissions for the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He started painting under a pseudonym when the Church found out that he was convicted for creating pornography. During his life he also worked in journalism and erotic theater. He now works in
catering
Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio.
History of catering
The earliest account of major service ...
and says that "film was always just a hobby for me". When asked if he will ever return to producing film, he says that maybe he will when his children grow up and he can't put anyone at risk with his financial decisions.
Filmography
Ja sam tvoj Bog
The film was produced in 1983. It is an erotic film with comedic elements. While in the Yugoslav military, Maycug met a man from
Gornji Vakuf
Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje ( sr-cyrl, Горњи Вакуф-Ускопље) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Etymology
Although settlements ...
and visited him upon finishing service. He met an amateur actor group there, consisting of a credit approver in the
Bank of Sarajevo, among others. There was enough funding, but every actor was an amateur, aside from
lead actress Ružica Sokić
Ružica Sokić ( sr-cyr, Ружица Сокић; 14 December 1934 – 19 December 2013) was a Serbian actress and writer.
Biography
She was born in Belgrade, then Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Sokić began her acting career in 1957 and was cred ...
. The film was recorded on a 35mm tape in
Jadran Film
Jadran Film is a film production studio and distribution company founded in 1946 in Zagreb, Croatia. In the period between the early 1960s and late 1980s Jadran Film was one of the biggest and most notable film studios in Central Europe, with som ...
. Shortly before distribution with Kinematografi, Maycug tried publishing a magazine called YU Express with the publisher Vjesnik. However, it was banned by the Zagreb court because of the article "''Da li će muslimanski manijaci osvojiti svijet?''"(Will the Muslim maniacs conquer the world?), which critiqued
Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
and
Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...
, on 31 December 1983. This was due to fear of retribution by the Iranian and Libyan embassies. Following this, Kinematografi cancelled the planned distribution. The lead actress Ružica Sokić also protested, having said that she was lured into the project through misrepresentation. Maycug says this was because of the 1992 shorter
VHS
VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ma ...
re-release, where a few pornographic scenes were edited in the tape from foreign films. The film was only shown at private screenings.
Plot
A female traveler(played by Sokić) spends the night in a small Bosnian town. Soon, she is overwhelmed with erotic fantasies. In her dreams, she encounters the people she has met during the day, particularly the hotel receptionist(played by Maycug).
Oaza
The original film was produced in 1984. It was supposed to be pornographic. The film's negative was sent to Jadran Film whereupon the
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
was alerted, and the film banned. He wrote and published the book ''Kako je snimljena i zabranjena Oaza''(How Oaza was Recorded and Banned) about this event. While pornography was not totally illegal, it was in a legal grey area. Pornographic material became more widespread in Yugoslavia, in the form of VHS, in Spring 1988. The remake followed the same year. Fearing troubles with the law, the remake was more of a parody on pornography, and he sent the negative to the Belgrade-based Zastava film. Often, material not allowed in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
was allowed in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, and vice versa. While it was not successful in cinemas, it met moderate success on the VHS market, allowing him to build a family house. The total revenue was, according to Maycug, 120 000
German Marks
The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was typically ca ...
, 80 000 of which was pure profit.
Plot
A free-spirited woman has an affair with a provincial painter. She eventually kills him, and later finds another lover, an elderly peasant.
Kalvarija
The film was produced in 1996. ''Kalvarija'' had one public screening in the Zagreb cinema Kustošija and was distributed in the domestic video market. It is the first Croatian film with a same-sex relationship, between a traveling accordionist and a journalist. It was recorded in 32 locations, including the
Plitvica Lakes, castles
Veliki Tabor
Veliki Tabor () is a castle and museum in northwest Croatia, dating from the middle of 15th century. The castle's present appearance dates back to the 16th century.
History
Most of the castle was built by the Hungarian noble family of Rátt ...
, and
Trakošćan Trakošćan may refer to:
* Trakošćan Castle, a medieval castle in northern Croatia, an estate of the Drašković family
* Lake Trakošćan, a lake around the castle
* Trakošćan, Varaždin County, the village near the castle
{{disambig ...
, nearby villages,
Sisak
Sisak (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavina (Sava basin ...
, and
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
. Maycug had an organiser who borrowed objects from the
Croatian National Theatre for free. Maycug planned to have multiple professional actors, but because of his controversial reputation, the only willing actor with experience was Dubravko Sidor. The film had no explicit romantic or pornographic themes, because Maycug thought it was already subversive enough.
The film went over budget, at 30 000 dollars. It was recorded in around twenty days. It had been supposed to be shown at the
Pula Film Festival
Pula Film Festival () is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held in the summer, in July or Aug ...
in 1997, but it was rejected by the organiser due to "not meeting the basic aesthetic and professional criteria". The reason is that parts of the film were recorded only in blue. According to an unconfirmed explanation, the cause was an incident at Jadran Film's laboratory, where chemicals destroyed a part of the negative, turning it blue. Not having enough funds to record again, the blue scenes were
edited
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and ...
as night scenes, the rest as day scenes. Maycug insists this is intentional, and says that he used the "American night" technique of recording night scenes during daytime. He says the destroyed parts of the negative were scrapped. Maycug thinks that the real reason for the rejection is Dragica Raščan's act as Teta, who entered the film "very late", after professional actresses rejected the role when they found out he created the first pornographic film. He describes her acting as "
fdebatable
uality. The film was a box office flop, with little distribution outside of the VHS market, because it was rejected by Kinematografi. On the VHS market it met little success, and only when it was packaged in with ''Oaza''.
The film is melodramatic with many subplots. It presents the Zagreb class as high class, even presenting the journalist's family with a butler, and as posh. Religious motives are important, and the Calvary in the film is a mythical place where believers relive
Christ's passion
The Passion (from Latin , "to suffer, bear, endure") is the short final period before the death of Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy Week.
The ''Passion'' may include, amo ...
. Also important is the character Teta, the zealous sister of the accordionist's wife. It shows many people in the countryside possessing weapons, and it was common for ex-soldiers to not return their firearms to the military after the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...
. Maycug said that he wanted all of his films to receive attention, so he made the pornographic Oaza, and included a gay couple in Kalvarija. There were no negative reactions to the film's LGBT themes and the actors didn't protest.
Plot
Trapped in an unhappy marriage, with a grown daughter, the traveling accordionist Slavko(played by amateur Mato Pavlović) falls in love with a male journalist(played by Sidor) he meets on an international bus. He invites him to his home, a castle in the Croatian hills, where he is a caretaker. The journalist's presence strains the frail family ties.
Legacy and reception
His work is a part of the samizdat
DIY culture
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, wikt:modification, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals ...
, and he was the main funder of all of his films. ''Kalvarija'', along with Darko Vernić Bundi's ''
Izgubljeno blago'', are the beginning of the 1990s Croatian
underground film
An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre or financing.
Notable examples include
John Waters' ''Pink Flamingos'',
David Lynch's ''Eraserhead'',
Andy Warhol's ''Blue Movie'',
Rosa von Praunheim's ''Tal ...
-
guerilla
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...
,
independent production, financed without the usual state sources. Mainstream
film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various film theory, theoretical, history of film, historical, and film criticism, critical approaches to film, cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media stud ...
has by and large disregarded his work, citing its amateur and pornographic nature, until Nenad Polimac's essay on Croatian trash film in 2004. According to
Susan Sontag
Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...
, trash film disregards good taste, has many sexual and violent scenes, is exaggerated, naive yet subversive. Polimac describes Maycug as the most significant Croatian trash producer.
A documentary about the producer was made by Gordan Stojić in 1999, titled "Maycug". ''Oaza'' received a short segment in Silvio Mirošničenko's 2011 ''Pod udarom cenzure''(Under Censorship), a documentary about the history of censorship of Croatian film.
His work was included in a retrospective in the cinema Tuškanac in 2004.
Maycug's films were shown in Casanovafest in Vrsar in 2009. ''Kalvarija'' was shown in cinema Europa in 2011. His entire body of extant work was shown at the accompanying program of the ''Dani hrvatskog filma'' (Days of Croatian Film) film festival in 2016. ''Kalvarija'' attained cult popularity on the Internet.
Index.hr
Index.hr is a Croatian Tabloid journalism, tabloid-like online newspaper, launched in December 2002 and based in Zagreb. It was founded by Matija Babić and was originally designed as a News aggregator, news aggregation website, providing news co ...
describes ''Kalvarija'' as a "masterpiece of trash" and "criminally bad", "a must watch because you won't believe it exists until you see it."
See also
*
Low-budget film
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a film, motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studios, major film studio or private investor.
Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream ci ...
References
External links
*
Ja sam tvoj Bogat IMDb
Oazaat IMDb
Kalvarijaat IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maycug, Zvonimir
1959 births
Croatian film directors
Croatian screenwriters
Croatian actors
Croatian writers
Living people