There aren’t many films that take you as deep into the social ills that plague the people of Croatia in the days since the collapse of much of Eastern Europe, so when one becomes available it is worth taking a close look at.

This stark, black and white film takes an unblinking look at the darkest corners of Croatian life through three parallel storylines that take place on the final hours of New Year’s Eve. One follows a young drug dealer and his troubled relationship with the widow of a fellow soldier; the second, a desperate young junkie goes to unfortunate lengths to secure a fix; the last, a couple tries to find a place to have sex for the first time.

To call the film bleak is an understatement, but one suspects that like any good realist filmmaker, director Arsen Anton Ostojic is simply reflecting the desperate conditions that he sees on the streets of his home country every day (at least as it was in 2003 – 2004 when the film was made and released). For that reason alone, the film is worth looking at to get an insider’s view of the dire straits that so many young Croatians found themselves in following years of conflict.

Ostojic’s unflinching directing style is also worth noting. It is free of visual trickery, taking an almost fly on the wall approach to the plot as it proceeds. When combined with Marko Pivcevic’s noir-esque cinematography, however, it quickly approaches the world of neorealist art. It’s a startling achievement and one that warrants deeper exploration into the roots of these issues that are tearing at the foundation of Croatia.