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Marble Ass
Dupe od mramora
Zelimir Zilnik (Yugoslavia, 1995) [86 min]



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[fuente] En la atmósfera desolada de la guerra, la destrucción y la violencia omnipotente, Merlin y Sanela consuelan a sus clientes a través del afecto físico. Primera película serbia en incluir a una actriz transgénero.

En Transgender-net se escribió:One of the more unusual gay-themed films to have come out of Europe this decade, Marble Ass is a gutsy, transgender-positive political and social drama that champions individual creativity against the mindless macho militarism that has kept the Balkan area in turmoil for years. Set in a rambling house in suburban Belgrade, the story focuses on Merlyn, a tough but good-hearted transvestite prostitute and her roommate, fellow working "girl" Sanela. Their routine is shattered when Johnny, a crazed ex-lover, is decommissioned from the army and arrives at her house full of barely repressed rage.

The film works both as a political allegory and an unflinching look at the often dangerous gay sex-for-sale world. The bleached-blond 37 year-old Sanela is a wonderful creation - mouthy and strong, she is not afraid to defend herself and others. At the same time she is realistic about her condition in life - that of an aging hustler. When pressed, she acknowledges that her tricks know that she is not a woman, but defends her drag by explaining that it is merely "show business". A brave film in its championing of sexual diversity.

Kevin Moss, en "Yugoslav Transgendered Heroes: «Virginia» and «Marble Ass»", en Reč, nº 67/13, en septiembre de 2002, escribió:(...) Instead of deploying homophobia, Žilnik uses the subversive power of the transvestite to challenge the stability of all identities. Its playful, carnivalistic satire spills over, infecting the audience and challenging hegemonic culture in ways that Virgina does not. National and ethnic hatred, civil war and ethnic cleansing make sense only if nationality is somehow essential, if national differences are biological and natural, rather than constructed. Davidovich claims that the filmmaker Emir Kusturica thought Gypsies and homosexuals have a higher body temperature and special blood. It is hard to imagine a clearer embodiment of the essential biological nature of ethnicity and sexuality than blood. But Žilnik's transvestite prostitutes, by revealing the constructed nature of their own gender, explode such notions to deprive hegemonic culture of its claim to naturalized essential identities. Virgina, though originally a multicultural project, ends up reaffirming traditional gender roles, while Marble Ass utilizes the performative nature of gender to destabilize national and ethnic identity as well. Both films are conceived as anti-nationalist, yet only Marble Ass challenges nationalism at its core, by subverting the very idea of a natural, essential, identity.

Guion: Zelimir Zilnik.
Música: Dejan Kijevcanin.
Fotografía: Miodrag Milosevic.
Sonido: Vladimir Stanojevic.
Film Editing by: Vladimir Milenkovic.
Producción: Miodrag Milosevic.
Production Design by: Gordana Veselinovic.
Costume Design by: Gordana Veselinovic.

• Aleksandar Brujic.
• Vjeran Miladinovic (Merlin).
• Milja Milenkovic (Sanela).
• Nenad Milenkovic.
• Nenad Rackovic (Dzoni).
• Lidija Stevanovic.
• Miodrag Susa.
• Miljen Vojnovic.
• Gordan Zabaljac.
• Suzana Zlatanovic (Luna Lu).

 Dupe od mramora ('Marble Ass') Zelimir Zilnik (1995) MQ YUF domaci.avi  [1.06 Gb]

Subtítulos: incluidos en inglés

Greg DeCuir Jr., en "Old School Capitalism: An Interview with Zelimir Zilnik", en Cineaste, en otoño de 2012, escribió:(...) DeCuir: Later that year you shot a feature film titled Dupe od mramora (Marble Ass, 1994), which dealt with gay subculture in Belgrade. How did people react to this film in Serbia?

Žilnik: I was researching how I should make a film about young people coming back from the war. I waited at the train station to talk to some of them and take some notes. A woman asked me, “Old man, do you want to go for a ride?” I said, “Please, leave me alone.” She said, “Oh Želimir, are you playing with me? I know you’re very open for sexual experiences.” I said, “How do you know me?” She said, “I’m Vera.” At that moment I recognized that it was an actor who took part in a scene with a group of gay people in my film Lijepe žene prolaze kroz grad/Pretty Women Passing Through the City (1985).

It was a small role but I remembered he was very intelligent, nice, and quite talented. I said, “Vera, what’s going on? Why are you dressed as a woman?” He said, “You know that I’m gay. Actually, I’m a transvestite. I never dared to come out openly as a girl but now that Belgrade is in such a strange situation, I feel I’m one of the most ordinary, normal people in the city.” I asked him, “What are you doing?” He said, “I’m earning as a prostitute.” I didn’t believe him. I didn’t know that that scene existed. He said, “Come with me.” He brought me to a street near the train station and there were about ten other transvestites. They told me about all the desperate people coming back from the war, including people that were even let out of jail to join the army. Some were homosexuals.

I was surprised about all this and I asked if they would let me and Miša observe them at work to prove they were not lying. They brought us to an attic where they took customers. At that time the houses and roofs in many cities were completely torn apart, like a corpse—the same situation with many personalities and the souls of the people. We stayed for a few hours, very frightened when the youngsters in uniform with weapons came, telling stories about the atrocities they had seen. Some of those boys dressed as women to practice some of the cruel behavior they had witnessed. We wanted to film a story around these experiences. They told us, “It’s dangerous. Write a screenplay where we can be very flamboyant divas instead, and then we’ll act!”

We shot it on Beta with a small budget. We thought it would be shown low profile on cassettes. Then, the Ministry of Culture declared that each domestic feature film production could have access to the Sava [Convention] Center for a screening. In those years only two or three domestic films were produced.

Marble Ass, a look into the gay subculture of Belgrade

We showed Marble Ass there. The Sava Center was filled to capacity with 4,000 people, and it was a big scandal. When the projection was finished, half of the audience was applauding and the other half was shouting, “Lies! That doesn’t exist in Serbia!” They started throwing apples and eggs at us. I went on stage with the crew, took a microphone and said, “I invite all gays, lesbians and prostitutes here to come up on stage and join us to greet the public!” There was a stampede of 400 people running up to the stage. That changed the atmosphere completely. I knew that a lot of the people who ran to the stage were not gay—they just came to show solidarity. They all started shouting and dancing and having fun. The television stations present to cover the event then couldn’t claim that the film was false. After a few days the actors in the film became stars in the press.

Marble Ass went to the Berlinale and won a Teddy Award. After that, the film went all over the world. It was a greater success than Early Works in terms of publicity, speaking engagements for myself and so on. (...)