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When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu)

When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu)

Movie · 1985 · 15 people

Emir Kusturica directed the Yugoslav drama When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu) in 1985, giving it a tragicomic streak. It is regarded as the first of his films to win international attention. It was produced by the Sarajevo companies Centar Film and Forum. At the 1985 Cannes Film Festival it won both the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI prize, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The story takes place during the Informbiro years after Tito's 1948 break with Stalin and is told through the eyes of young Malik. His father Meša (Miki Manojlović) is arrested over a remark read as criticism of the authorities and sent to a labour camp, while the family pretends he is simply away on business. Malik witnesses quarrels, loyalties and betrayals, but never fully grasps the political games behind them. Moreno De Bartoli, Mirjana Karanović, Mustafa Nadarević and Mira Furlan appear.

Kusturica wrote the script with the playwright Abdulah Sidran, with whom he had made his 1981 debut feature. Bosnian authorities resisted a film on such a sensitive subject, the script was criticised repeatedly by the studio council, and it was only filmed in 1985. In 2016 the Yugoslav Film Archive declared the film a cultural property of great importance.

DirectorEmir Kusturica
Production companyCentar film

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Mira Furlan Mira Furlan Actor · died at 65 Ankica Vidmar Emir Hadžihafizbegović Emir Hadžihafizbegović Actor · 65 years old Fahro Zulfikarpašić Miki Manojlović Mirjana Karanović Mustafa Nadarević Davor Dujmović Pavle Vujisić Predrag Laković Slobodan Aligrudić Moreno D'E Bartolli Zoran Radmilović Božidarka Frajt Jasmin Geljo Eva Ras Silvija Puharic

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The film's real achievement is its point of view. Filtering political repression through a child's half-understanding lets Kusturica tell a heavy story without grand speeches; the adults' quarrels, loyalties and betrayals keep seeping in from the edge of the frame. The tragicomic tone fits that choice: the moments that make you smile don't soften the pain, they sharpen it. The script he wrote with Sidran doesn't chase a dramatic climax; it builds by stacking small scenes of family life. Some viewers may find that loose, but accepting the slow accumulation is the way to see why the Palme d'Or went to this film.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The Informbiro years that followed Tito's 1948 break with Stalin may mean little to today's viewers. The film doesn't teach them as a history lesson; it shows how families kept quiet and got by in a climate where a single remark could send someone to a labour camp. The "father is away on business" lie works as a summary of how a society lives with fear. Still, anyone who knows nothing of the period may find the political background as blurry as the young hero does, so a little reading beforehand helps. That the script met resistance for years and could only be filmed in 1985 says a lot about how sensitive the subject was.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Don't mistake this for a children's film just because the story is seen through a child's eyes. A father arrested and sent to a labour camp, family quarrels and betrayals are heavy subjects for young kids. In my view it works for high-school teenagers watching together with adults, and it's a good way to start a conversation about those years afterwards. For small children, both the subject and the telling are too heavy.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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