Few nights ago Croatia experienced a torching which had
little to do with Ante Gotovina. Its consequences, however, are likely to be
much more important than random acts of vandalism.
Few days ago Croatian public was informed about Croatia finally "returning to the world cinema map" by being used a location for expensive Hollywood productions. First such film was supposed to be Omen 666, remake of legendary 1976 horror film. To make things even more delightful to Croatian public, the director is John Moore, Irishman best known for Behind Enemy Lines, action spectacle praised for "telling the truth about last war" - in other words, portraying Serbs as evil genocide-loving scum that should be wiped out by US military might.
This kind of credential, however, didn't help Moore or production when some of the details came to light. The shooting was supposed to last five days and Diocletian's Palace in Split and various nearby sites with ancient Roman architecture were supposed to be used for locations. The scenes shot were supposed to be set in Israel.
Production company apparently received all the necessary permits from Croatian Ministry of Culture and other relevant institutions. However, local authorities and Catholic Church weren't informed. They also expressed disgust after learning that one of locations is going to be Manastirine - ancient Roman cemetery near Solin, town which used to be ancient Salona, capital of Roman province of Dalmatia (which used to cover most of former Yugoslavia in ancient times).
Manastirine also features some ancient Christian graves. That was enough for fundamentalists to call this production a sacrilege. According to them, use of such sacred object for "Satanistic films" is unacceptable.
Their protests came to nothing and the sets were already been brought to cemetery. They stood there until Saturday morning, when they were burned. Police so far didn't release any official statements, but, according to Slobodna Dalmacija, the fire was "result of torching".
Today's Slobodna Dalmacija now reports about production "being pulled from Split" and "Hollywood leaving Croatia". So, another great Croatian dream is supposed to end in nightmare of vandalism and violence.
On the other hand, producers' decision to leave is quite understandable. Nobody should risk someone's life or health for something most likely to be instantly forgotten as just another pointless Hollywood remake.
Comments