It’s common for us to look back on history, and ponder what motivated those on the wrong side. Many films have been devoted to showing various perspectives during World War 2, but director Bruno Anković’s debut feature takes a more personal view.

Based on the book by Damir Karakaš, Celebration begins with lead character Mijo (Bernard Tomić) hiding in the woods near his village in the Autumn of 1945. It will emerge that he has been a soldier for the Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state formed by Nazi Germany in 1941. Following their loss, many soldiers such as Mijo went into hiding in forests in order to avoid capture and punishment. The film’s focus is what got him to this point, looking at various formative moments in his past. We see the character at various ages being taught tough lessons of survival by his father (Krešimir Mikić), first with a family dog, and then his own grandfather.

Throughout all these chapters, suffering is the great constant. Anković trusts his actors to tell their stories without pages of dialogue, with sharp stares or short rebukes informing us of how desperate life can be when poverty dictates your day-to-day existence. Shot beautifully in various fields and woodlands, nature becomes its own character in the piece – it morphs from teacher to haven and prison from scene to scene. The trials Mijo goes through aren’t met with high emotion, but with each new trauma the path to fascism becomes clearer, even if it’s not understandable in hindsight.

An obstacle for the audience may be keeping up with the plot if they haven’t read a synopsis. Closing titles explain Mijo’s situation in a wider context. This would have been of better use at the beginning. Nothing the character does leans toward fascism in a way that other war films understand it – for example, Mijo doesn’t express any extreme views or prejudice. Ultimately, this is a film about how someone can be pushed to follow a power they don’t fully understand after a lifetime of struggle, and one can’t help but think this message may have been clearer if this epilogue had been switched to a prologue.

Nevertheless, spending time with this talented cast is a pleasure. Tomić serves as a focal point for the viewer along with Lars Štern and Jan Doležal as younger versions of Mijo. Neither hero nor villain, it’s hard to see him go through such a severe evolution from sweet young boy to an emaciated fugitive. It makes his tender moments with childhood sweetheart Drenka (Klara Fiolić) all the more impactful, as we see some tenderness in their harsh surroundings.

Celebration’s nuance may soften the impact of its message, but it is still a sleek and intelligent movie that both explores the past, and warns about the future.

Bruno Anković’s Celebration premiered at the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.