FACES OF CROATIAN CINEMA

Identity games, sadomasochism and the secret of lesbian love in Fadil Hadžić’s Alphabet of Fear

Alphabet of Fear, Fadil Hadžić’s first feature film, is a piece of filmmaking neglected in previous film analyses although the entire work of this director, including this film, has experienced revalorization. Games of identity, erotic roles masked with social and political motives and the questions of lust and domination between characters are the subject of this analysis. The author’s underlying assumption is that the analysis of the contents is an important part of film analysis. Explaining the importance of Vera’s transformation from an active person, an illegal member of the anti-fascist resistance movement, into a passive servant Katica, the author introduces a gender and queeranalysis of character relations (Vera, the Bolnar family for which she works their guests and others). In line with this interpretation, social, political and economic relations are imbued with the economics of desire and sexual attraction, explained in detail, often aimed at same-sex persons.

Damir Radić