Fine Dead Girls

Even ten years after the movie premiered, ''Fine Dead Girls'' stands not only as one of the first titles of contemporary Croatian cinematography, but also as an accurate diagnosis of the two-sided nature of ''Croatia today'', with many of its (our) ''-phobias'', ''-ginias'', ''-isms''. The chamber-like quality of this film though, its density, strong characters and archetypal conflicts that they carry with them, have moved it closer to the stage. In addition to that, the co-scriptwriter of the film, Mate Matišić, is one of the most significant contemporary Croatian playwrights and Dalibor Matanić has previous experience working in the theatre (one of the current productions of Croatian National Theatre ''Ivan pl. Zajc'' in Rijeka is the play ''Sjajno mjesto za nesreću'' (A Great Place to be Unhappy) by Damir Karakaš and Nina Mitrović, directed by Matanić). Matanić is also known for his remarkable feel when working with the actors, which is a film constant, as well as for the accuracy in detecting social problems and the willingness to confront them, which are unquestionable. ''Fine Dead Girls'' in Gavella Theatre will not, and can not, be a copy of the movie, but a fully-fledged theatre play, which will use the film merely as a starting point for the questioning of the condition of our society. The story of two college girls - two lesbians in love rent an apartment in a house near West Train Station in Zagreb, wishing to secure a quiet corner and privacy for themselves - starts as a melodrama only to gradually develop into a tragedy, with all its necessary consequences, with its subject matter and approach stands somewhere between the work of Almodovar and Fassbinder, two film-makers very much connected to the theatre.

''It is most likely that ''Gavella Theatre'' has a new hit, the one that will 'recruit' even those people who usually give theatre a wide berth.'' (Maja Hrgović, Novi list)

''The heroins Ivana Roščić and Nataša Janjić Lokas are brilliant. (...) The play is a theatrical hit which we haven't seen in ''Gavella Theatre'' for a while.'' (Bojana Radović, Večernji list)

''The play is absolutely clear in one point, those who hate irreversebly destroy themselves. Within lies the incredible warmth and humanity of Matišić's text, as well as the quality of Matanić's direction.'' (Nataša Govedić, Novi list)

''Each piece of Matišić's puzzle neither presents, nor leaves anyone innocent.'' (Igor Ružić, T-portal)

''''Gavella Theatre'' has a notable play.'' (Gordana Ostović, Jutarnja kronika Hrvatskog radija)