SveĆenikova djeca

Fabijan is a young catholic priest, and idealist, in a Dalmatian seaside town. He's troubled by the birth rate, there simply aren't enough children, in turn putting a question mark over the future of this idyllic paradise. It's all the fault of condoms; this much Fabijan knows from Peter, who sells far more "parisians" than newspapers at his newspaper kiosk. Together with a nationalistically-minded pharmacist the three draw up a plan to distribute previously pierced condoms amongst local men. This plays havoc with the habits of the sensuous locals, who had never taken the Catholic dictate of abstinence particularly seriously. Thus, superficially speaking, the plan is a success; the pregnancy rate increases, at the same time however there's the risk that unacceptable truths and taboos will be uncovered in the process, as forced marriages and unwanted teenage pregnancies result. A sense of unease grows and the local social contract threatens to come undone...

Vinko Brešan again manages to provide visual expression to a hearty sense of humour, taking issue with bigotry, falsehood and nationalism with great irony and a pinch of sarcasm. What begins as a hilarious farce evolves into something increasingly serious before meeting a surprisingly tragic end. An original, suspense-packed tightrope walk, which proved quite the commercial success in Croatia. With regard to box office data for 2013, SveĆenikova djeca still leads the way ahead of THE SMURFS 2 and HANGOVER 3.