An Event – Between Horror and Fairy Tale Cover Image

Zdarzenie – między horrorem a baśnią
An Event – Between Horror and Fairy Tale

Author(s): Patrycjusz Pająk
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Sociology, Sociology of Culture, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Vatroslav Mimica; Croatian cinema; horror film; fairy tale; initiation;

Summary/Abstract: An Event (Događaj, 1969) is one of the few Croatian horror movies. In comparison to other examples of the use of the horror genre in Croatian cinema, the film is distinguished by its aesthetic sophistication and skilful use of fairy-tale elements. The director Vatroslav Mimica evokes the mood of horror primarily through a suitably chosen space (the movie takes place mainly in the forest and two homes) as well as the right dosage and gradation of scenes of violence. The topic of An Event is the child’s initiation into adulthood. To highlight the most important stages and milestones of the initiation process, Mimica uses the plot and symbolic elements taken from the fairy-tale convention, such as the figures of false mother and magical helper as well as the motif of fear of abandonment and the motif of incorporation. Presentation of the topic of initiation by means of fairy-tale horror allows the director to describe suggestively the key problem in horror films that is the traumatogenic interaction between the natural and cultural factors that shape human life.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 16
  • Page Range: 520-540
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish