Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

KobusAdAstra A Nietzsche aphorism at the beginning of the film gives a good indication what to expect in this sombre film: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man".The backdrop of this film is the Macedonian town of Veles, still recovering from the ravages of civil war. Peacekeeping soldiers and armoured vehicles are very visible. Marko is not a happy lad. His father is a drunkard and spends more time with his buddies drinking and playing bingo than at home, his slutty sister is a vicious bully, while his mother is intimidated into silence by her patriarchal husband and abusive daughter. And this is not the end of Marko's problems; at school he is is bullied by fellow students, some from influential families. The only one on his side seems to be his Macedonian language teacher, who, incidentally, originates from Bosnia. He encourages Marko, a smart lad, to take part in a poem- writing competition, the first prize being a trip to Paris. Marko does not waste time, and starts straight away. Conditions at home are just not conducive for creative writing, and after some unpleasant domestic violence, he starts spending time in an old carriage in a train graveyard close to home. One day on his way home from school, Marko once again gets physically assaulted by the bullying thugs from his class, when his language teacher, who Marko thought was on his side, came cycling up, saw what was happening, turned around and quickly cycled away. One can't blame Marko for feeling very alone with nobody on his side. Then one day he meets a drifter, ironically called Paris, who also moves into Marko's disused train carriage. Paris would teach Marko to stand up for himself, and look after his own interests, even if it means stealing. Eat or be eaten, he says. Under the influence of his new buddy, Paris, Marko becomes more rebellious and even has a few scrapes with the law. It looks like Marko's life, once promising, is now going in totally the wrong direction…This tense, tragic drama to a large extent shares themes with 'Joe, the King' (1999), Luis Buñuel's outstanding 'Los Olvidados' (aka 'The Young and the Damned') (1950), and the superb 'The 400 Blows' (aka 'Les Quatre Cents Coups') (1959) by François Truffaut, and compares quite well with them. Although I must add, the latter two films are in a class of their own. I have been impressed by the imaginative cinematography displayed in'Mirage', whilst the character of the young protagonist was made believable through the true to life performance of Marko Kovacevic. The set is excellent too, with Veles, the smallish Macedonian town, as backdrop. I gladly recommend this film. 8/10.

przgzr There are human destinies, stories, situations that we could expect to happen in certain poor Asian or middle American countries. At least this is something we are used to consider "normal", "natural", this was a steady state for decades.But modern world has brought changes. Not changes like that were brought by 20th century, when American slavery or Dickens' England disappeared. Nothing disappeared with 20th century, on the contrary – life that seemed to be reserved for Guatemala, Haiti or Indochina today can be found in Europe.Life has never been easy in Eastern Europe. During socialism years poverty and hard life were mostly hidden, movie makers were forbidden to show dark side of life (it was impossible to accept that life can be rough in perfect society). Therefore the world never got a realistic view of life in these countries, especially in rural distant regions.Today there is freedom to show everything - and life hasn't become any easier. In fact, even those rare good qualities vanished, among them hope. Old people accept what life brings as they always have. Adults became resigned, they can't expect even what their ancestors got. But youngsters don't have a picture of old world that had some values of their own, they see world as shown on MTV, they grow up with values brought by commercials, and every time they open their eyes reality makes them despair. And resigned adults don't try to input any other values, cause they don't believe in them either."Iluzija" is just one in a line of dark and hopeless stories showing this new world, that globalization gave to Macedonia (or Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Bosnia...). Romanian "Maria" tells us a true story of a woman that had to enter world of prostitution (with hints that it is the only destiny her daughter can expect, too); also showing infants been sold to families from the west. "König der Diebe" deals with selling older children to merchants from Germany (though it could be any other rich country) for illegal jobs like stealing and prostitution hidden by pictures and promises for better life. And, tragic as they are, these movies show people – both adults and children – that still have some hope. "Iluzija" is beyond that: you can't steal because everyone is poor, prostitution is limited to few able to pay (UN soldiers) and you can't even sell children cause there's no one to buy them. So if Barbu and Mimma in "König der Diebe" followed Caruso with enthusiasm and faith, and finally returned home understanding that it is still a safer and better place than promising West, Marko in "Iluzija" dreams of leaving, but everyone who could open him the exit door lets him down – from teachers to criminals.And there is at least a bit of good in most characters in "Maria" and "König", we can't find a single character that we would actually like. Even Marko - we can understand or feel sorry for him, but would you like him to be your neighbour, to be your son's classmate? Life in Macedonia is most likely a bit better than in Romania or USSR countries. Being a part of Yugoslavia Macedonia had some more freedom, and there are some traditions (black wave from Serbia in late 60's) that Macedonian authors can lean on, so they are more sharp and radical than their colleagues from Soviet influence zone. "Iluzija" also shows deep political disruption between old left-wings from Yugoslavia years and right-wing mix of nationalist, pro-American democrats, (rare) new enriched people; and the national split – though the only Yugoslavia nation that wasn't in war against Serbia Macedonians have problems with large Albanian minority, and the teacher who is Bosnian is also a suspect, because both Bosnians and Albanians are Moslems... In this society bullying among children seems to be an inevitable consequence. This movie is hard to watch, but the authors must be praised for being brave not to avoid any dark side of life in their (and not only their) country.One thing to add... If each word would be correctly translated, MPAA would probably let it free to watch for persons over 50. But I don't think English is rich enough. No language contains so many obscene words and idioms as Balkan languages. As much as I've noticed, only cats and dogs didn't use four-letter words in every minute on the screen. Yet this is also the part of reality.

nycritic No one can call Nietzche from being someone who spawned cheerful, optimistic blurbs about the condition of Man and His position in the Universe. So the moment a film decides to use one of his more depressing quotes -- "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man." -- it was clear to me that this was not going to be a walk in the park, but an express ride into hell with no way back up.Macedonia produces this cinematic denouncement of a film and while it's too negative to be recommended, it's not a film anyone can ignore, or watch without feeling something wrenching at the stomach. The story of Marko, the little boy who lives in a country ravaged by civil unrest and the threat of a civil war just seconds away from happening, makes for an important voice even when the writers have given him none.Marko is in the middle of the death of his family as a unit. His father is a deadbeat drunk who plays the lotto and hopes to win. His mother moves about in a haze and his sister gives him an excruciating amount of abuse for the hell of it. School is no better: there is Levi, the school thug who leads a gang, who has decided to focus his anger on him. And a teacher, originally from Bosnia (considered sacrilegious of in this country) who sees hope in Marko's sensitive writing and thinks his poetry might be the express way out of this hell, into the promise of Paris.Paris indeed arrives, in a moment of hope, as a young mercenary of sorts -- a man who has lived a dangerous life. As Marko retreats from his daily dose of abuse into an abandoned train, he meets and befriends this man who comes to teach Marko two things: that life is hopeless and a constant battle, and to eat or be eaten (the movie's tagline). As the mental and physical violence around and directed at Marko escalates and even those who had hope in him decide to turn the other face as the ones in power (Levi and his police father) gain so much control that it seems all roads of escape end at their feet, Marko takes a drastic action into his own hands.This kind of story is not new. I think the director is trying to, in telling a story of the loss of hope, an allegory about how innocence -- the future (Marko) -- can take so much before crying out and lashing at those who try to help but cannot (Marko's teacher, who didn't even assist him when Levi and his gang beat him up at his doorstep but fled the scene). I did wonder if the introduction of Paris and Marko's transformation from golden haired boy into a killing machine was a foreshadowing of what Marko would become -- since he walks away from it all right at the end while no one even flinches to see what took place. Paris, the soldier, has told Marko not to expect anything from anyone, that the only way of leaving a bad situation is leaving, not hoping, and this is exactly what Marko in the end is implied as doing.MIRAGE is not an easy movie. At times I felt, as an American used to some form of catharsis that would in one way rescue the abused character and give him the victory over evil, that this systematic abuse was too much. It set me up for a false sense of "hope" once Marko starts taking subtle control over his life and even put down his sister in one funny scene. The only thing I can infer is that MIRAGE reflects the reality of many victims of society who have no one to help them, who have been pushed so far and then beyond the edge until they embrace the darkness of life. I kept getting slight references to a Mexican film by Luis Bunuel -- LOS OLVIDADOS in which innocence was also stolen and turned into something ugly. MIRAGE, however its pessimism (which is hard to take), has its beauty, even when it's one which should approached to with caution.

JohnnyLarocque MIRAGE (Iluzija), is a Macedonian film from first time director Svetozar Ristovski, about a boy who is bullied at school, neglected and emotionally abused at home, and without a friend in the world. His teacher gives him hope by encouraging his writing, but eventually he is pushed to the brink. I knew I was going to enjoy this movie immediately as it opened with one of my favorite quote from Nietzsche: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man." The movie is about how children can endure physical violence, but not false hope.The director uses some clever metaphors in the film. Although trains constantly pass through the sleepy Macedonian village, they never stop there. Marko, the child star of the film, seeks refuge in a train graveyard, living in an abandoned train car that will never go anywhere.There is nothing new about the story, as it's been told time and again in many different languages. What makes it worth watching is an honest look at Macedonian life, it's struggle with poverty and American occupation. But what really made the film for me was a phenomenal performance by 12 year old Marko Kovacevic as Marko. He blew me away. I had the chance to meet the young talent after the film, and he's as cool as he is shy. I would certainly recommend seeing this film for his performance alone. (8/10)