A wonderfully playful and symbolic manifestation of the spirit of childhood can be found in Dimitrie Osmanli’s short fiction debut. The film follows a little girl with her doll who meets a neighbourhood boy with his tank; after her doll is damaged we are invited into a surreal dream where dolls rise up against the boy and their face resembles the little girl he hurt. The rebellion of the dolls signifies a rebellion against the boy’s malice and essentially against his refusal to be like a child. The dream yields fruit: on waking up, the boy, grateful to be alive, has joy restored in his heart and runs to makes amends with the little girl. Bunt na kuklite renders the concept of rebellion as an internal event: an uprising of the conscience against the spirit of cruelty and disobedience and as a lesson to the little boy shows true conscience restored in the spirit of gentleness. Dimitrie Osmanli here directed one of the most original shorts in Yugoslav cinema and he would go on to make his mark in feature films.

Mina Radović