AllMovie

Vinko Bresan directs this blistering satire about unrepentant communists and slick new capitalists in the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia. Set in a small island on Croatia's scenic Adriatic coast, the region has not seen a tourist since the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Mayor and local huckster Luka (Ivo Gergurevic), who owns the island's only (now shuttered) hotel as well as the only bar, is ever on the prowl for some extra diners. Meanwhile, elderly pensioners led by Marinko Cicin (Ilja Ivezic), who had fought as partisans during WWII, quietly keep their communist red flags, Lenin busts, and portraits of the former ruler of Yugoslavia, Marshall Jozip Broz Tito. During a late night funeral, the ghost of the late leader miraculously appears above the body. Soon the word gets out, and a young policeman is sent to investigate. After multiple Tito sightings, Marinko dusts off his old uniform. Sensing a business opportunity, Luka publicizes the ghost as much as possible, hoping for "socialist spiritual tourism." This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.