Virgina (Virdžina)

👎 Virdžina (Virgina), dir.Srđan Karanović, 1991, Yugoslavia/‌France, 102 min., in Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 7:00 PM, BAMPFA, Berkeley

Virdžina (Virgina)

Frameline blurb: Completed by writer/director Srđan Karanović during the outbreak of the Yugoslavian civil war in June 1991, this newly restored period drama has been unavailable for decades. Born as the fourth daughter of a poor Serbian family in the 19th century, Stevan (Marta Keler) is raised as a boy. “Better a rooster for a day, than a hen for life. Everything is made for men,” the mother laments. Families without a male heir were considered cursed at this point in time. As a handsome young boy, Stevan finds a boyfriend and a girlfriend, and a good deal of erotic tension with both. It is eventually revealed that Stevan’s situation is a common thread in the fabric of this androcentric culture.

One of the noted Yugoslav filmmakers and graduates of the Prague Film School FAMU, Karanović based Virgina on a story he had read about in Albania, making it one of the very first queer Serbian films. New restoration courtesy of Altered Innocence.

My take: I’m sorry, I really wanted to like this film, but I found Virgina almost unwatchable. To sum it up in one word: tedious! The beginning drags on for far too long, rendered almost tolerable by playing it at 2X, but eventually the dialogue got dense enough that I couldn’t keep up with the subtitles at that pace. The characters are wooden and one-dimensional, with boring dialogue. The father, in particular, is just an all-around piece of work, seemingly incapable of any emotion other than anger and stubborn pride. There are some interesting bits as Stevan begins to explore beyond the small yard in front of her house, and meets some other people her age, but not enough to be worth nearly two hours. If you’re a serious student of Yugoslav history, or of this kind of arrangement with pretending your daughter is a son to avoid public disgrace, you should watch this film. But otherwise, I’m pretty sure you can come up with a much better use of an hour and forty-two minutes. Not recommended.

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