Cheap Hey Babu Riba (Video) (Jovan Acin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Hey Babu Riba

Naïve Vision of Teen Nostalgia in Adequate Coming of Age Film...
Men yearning for the olden days awaken in this former Yugoslavian film that brings the audience back to 1950s Belgrade where a group of teens live for the moment. What brought back the memories to the four middle aged men is the death of their beloved friend, Mirjana 'Ester' Zivkovic (Gala Videnovic). Reminiscence shades the beginning with how these four men in their youth rowed across the Adriatic Sea to bring Esther to her father who was exiled to Italy. The rowing feat broke up their relationship with Esther and they also found out that she also was pregnant. However, they never did learn who the father was, but the reunion will bring back the playful adolescence as they will learn the truth. <
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>The story is loosely based on some of the filmmaker's own childhood in Belgrade under the Soviet communist presence and the escapades they encountered amidst coming of age. The main characters in the film are four boys and a girl who spend all time they have together. They are full of youthful brashness and eager to learn more about all the mysteries of life. Yet, they have an unyielding loyalty to one another and Ester is the glue to keep it all together while they all secretively have a crush on her. Their tight friendship stems from competitive rowing where they form a five man crew. They boys are the rowers while Ester calls the cadence. <
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>The film Bathing Beauty (1944) with the actress Esther Williams who captured her attention also was the source that brought her the nickname Ester. The film had a strong presence of water, which was also the main reason that these four boys were friends through rowing. They even create their own theme song from the 1944 film, which played a significant part in their lives. Another film with water that plays a big part in the film is the Swedish film One Summer of Happiness (1954). The film received much controversial attention in the 1950s due to a scene where two adolescents lovingly embrace each other while naked during a late evening swim. However, the Swedish film also reflects on the boys growing sexual awareness, as they discover more about the 1950s trends and themselves. <
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>Innocently, all boys approache Ester, who turns them all down by saying, "We are a four.", as if she had a strong idea of what a relationship would do to their friendships. In the shadow of their innocent attempts to sway Ester to their side they seek other outlets for their feelings such as American jazz, blue jeans, and cigarettes. The cigarettes receive an amusing symbolic value for lost virginity and the boys' effort to reach adulthood. Nonetheless, the boys lighting up cigarettes suggests that someone must be behind the pregnancy. <
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>Hey Babu Riba offers a nostalgic trip down memory lane where some sentiments will strike a cord with many viewers who have left their adolescence behind them. Unfortunately some of the sentiments do bring a sugar coating generating a slight discord between the viewer and the story. This discord rests within the obvious intention of trying to sway the audience in an emotional direction. It might be ok for those still in adolescence, but us who have our own memories from the teens might feel slightly cheated. Nonetheless, the film does brings back a sense of a lost time and place that brought us across the bridge of finding our place in adulthood.

Good movie about the 50s in the former Yugoslavia
Jovan Acin's "Hey babu riba" is a very good film about the experiences of four boys and their female coxswain friend, Esther, in 1950s Yugoslavia. The film begins with the group of five rowing out across the border into Italy, where the father of the girl lives in exile. Years later, the four boys are reunited at the girl's funeral, and they reminisce with a man that they really disliked about what had happened. It's a coming of age story as all four are attracted to Esther, but none of them can have her. It's also a story of the effects of communism, as the boys and the man are unable to save Esther's mother from dying because they had no strepomycin in Yugoslavia. It tells tells us how far friends will go for each other. It's sad, but yet worth seeing.