FROSINA (Ôðîñèíà)
Movie from: 1952
Duration: 79 minutes
Director: Voislav Nanovic
Screenplay: Vlado Maleski
Leading Roles: Meri Boshkova, Ilija Dzuvalekovski, Aco Jovanovski, Nadja Poderegin, Petre Prlichko, Petar Veljanovski
Content: Frosina is one of the many Macedonian wives whose husbands are economic emigrants abroad. Marriage does not bring
them a family, only the burden of life itself. After her husband's short visits, she gives birth to children who do not live long because
of the poverty into which they have been born. She gives birth to them alone, and she buries them alone. Only her last child, Klime,
survives all his various illnesses and grows up to be her one joy in life. The war breaks out. Klime earns a living fishing with the old
fishermen. He is just an ordinary boy with all the problems of his age. He loves in vain because of the social difference between him and
the girl he admires. A meeting with a wounded partisan, Krste, turns Klime from a passive sympathizer into an active participant in the
fight against the occupiers. Frosina, his mother, is living on her own once more in permanent fear for her son's life. The day comes when
the partisans march into the streets of the town. Among them is Klime who has come to visit his mother. After he has gone Frosina
discovers blood on her hands and starts out in search of her son. In the midst of street fighting in the town, Klime, who has been
mortally wounded dies in his mother's arms. Frosina remains alone with her grief.
Resume: The year 1952, when the first Macedonian feature film "Frosina" was made is justly regarded as the beginning of
Macedonian film production. The film was a complex project, challenging every part of the filmmakers’ ability and creativity. It turned
into a remarkable achievement which incorporated a significant amount of qualities one to proclaim it the first Macedonian feature-length
film. The screenplay was written by Vlado Maleski the dominant topics were those of migrant workers, struggle for national recognition
and the fight against occupation. However, the central part of the film was concerned with the mother Frosina's life and her sufferings.
The screenplay was also remarkable because of its authentic language and dramatic impression.
Voislav Nanovic, an outstanding figure of that particular film, directed the film. Of his work up until then, "Frosina" was a test, but
also an affirmation, of his directing action marked by the dominant feature of his time, when film was supposed to fulfill a number of
ideological, political and aesthetic aims. The leading part was assigned to Meri Boshkova, a young actress with a lively temperament. She
accomplished the character with dignity and rare dramatic reality, integrating all the temporal dramatic structures. The rest of the
roles were assigned to a group of upcoming actors who enthusiastically created the characters and made them recognizable.
They were Ilija Dzuvalekovski (Krste), Aco Jovanovski (Klime), Petre Prlichko (Kuzman), Ljuba Arsova (Ljuba) etc. Kiro Bilbilovski, a
cameraman making his debut with this film, successfully achieved the live effects, that mark the reality of the story. His camera always
appeared as an active and creative part whose essential expression was the frame itself and its visual expressiveness. For the first time,
frame, music and scenography were used in order to create a complete space typical for the regarded subject. Sound and music complemented
the life space of the characters and it became their first and last existential and portentous projection. The scenography was an example
of a successful attempt undertaken by Milan Vasic and Dime Shumka, while the music was composed by Traiko Prokopiev. On the whole, the
faith in Macedonian film production was justified and the path towards its complete recognition was traced.
Sources: Macedonian Cinema Information Center and Cinemateque of Macedonia.
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