Goran Markovic

You're a filmmaker from what used to be Yugoslavia. Who still considers himself Yugoslavian. And you've made one of the funnier films of the year. Well, the irony isn't lost on Goran Markovic. "It's my style, you know," the director said, with a hint of apology, not that his "Tito and Me"--which opens in Los Angeles today--requires any. "I like the combination of the serious and the comic. Always, I find in the comic aspects of serious things, and in comic situations serious points."

You're a filmmaker from what used to be Yugoslavia. Who still considers himself Yugoslavian. And you've made one of the funnier films of the year. Well, the irony isn't lost on Goran Markovic. "It's my style, you know," the director said, with a hint of apology, not that his "Tito and Me"--which opens in Los Angeles today--requires any. "I like the combination of the serious and the comic. Always, I find in the comic aspects of serious things, and in comic situations serious points."

The year is 1954. Josip Broz Tito is the unchallenged ruler of Yugoslavia, marshal, prime minister and president all in one. Zoran is a somber and phlegmatic 10-year-old boy whose idea of a good time is eating the plaster off the walls of his Belgrade apartment. Talk about your odd couples. Zoran mimics the great man's gestures in newsreels and gets up in the middle of the night to ensure a good spot when the maximum leader parades by.

The year is 1954. Josip Broz Tito is the unchallenged ruler of Yugoslavia, marshal, prime minister and president all in one. Zoran is a somber and phlegmatic 10-year-old boy whose idea of a good time is eating the plaster off the walls of his Belgrade apartment. Talk about your odd couples. Zoran mimics the great man's gestures in newsreels and gets up in the middle of the night to ensure a good spot when the maximum leader parades by.

'Reflections' Yugoslavia, 1987, 102 minutes , 10 p.m. A thriller where the villains are both Stalinism and the subconscious. A repressed pianist is driven to frenzies by his sexy blonde fellow teacher. The bloody cadenzas rival U.S. slasher films, and director Goran Markovic is good at erotic desperation--but his political satire is far lighter stuff.

Officially the country that still calls itself Yugoslavia is putting on a brave face. It took a booth in the international marketplace at the Cannes Film Festival and handed out a glossy booklet titled "Yugoslav Film: Culture of the Impossible." But to talk with directors from Belgrade is to hear the voice of depression and despair. They are shocked, of course, at the carnage that has swept their country.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Contemporary Documentary Series continues Tuesday at 8 p.m. in UCLA's Melnitz Theater with a pair of stunners, David Bradbury's "Chile: Hasta Cuando?" (1986) and Sturla Gunnarsson's "Final Offer" (1986). "Final Offer" is that rarity, a documentary of an event as it is unfolding, which means that in this instance it plays like a nonfiction suspense film.

What a difference a year makes. True, 1992 wasn't quite as grim as 1991, when finding 10 films remotely worth putting on a list was a feat in itself. Last year was more like a crack sports team without a bench, strong in the starting positions but lacking in the kind of depth, especially where Hollywood films were concerned, that makes for a memorable 12 months. This year, the problem with constructing a 10-best list is not deciding what to put on but what to leave off.