Staro dvorišče

Already in his earliest five 8mm films, Vasko Pregelj exhibited a distinctively forceful style that he was to rigorously maintain throughout his short career. Pregelj submerges the viewer deep into elaborate, nightmarish, grotesque worlds of his own creation and seems content to simply let us gasp for air without developing anything even remotely similar to a narrative or formal progression. Pregelj’s eternal funeral processions of strange beasts traversing dark dreamscapes are not so different from the earliest painterly short films by the young David Lynch made roughly in the same period, although they should not be judged for their aesthetic effect alone. While one could indeed potentially categorise them as the feverish, pessimistic product of teenage angst, they also contain enough political subtext for Pregelj’s films to be grasped as a decisive (and possibly Black Wave inspired) rebellion against state prescribed optimism in art. For two of the titles—SANJE and REKVIJEM—the final versions of the original soundtrack remain lost, so a new score was commissioned from the key restoration technician who also happens to be a musician (Tine Vrabič aka DJ Nitz), who, in the spirit of Pregelj’s visions, only worked with the original sound samples. (Jurij Meden)

This film will be shown as part of the screening FEVER DREAMS OF VASKO PREGELJ.

Courtesy of Slovenian Cinematheque.