The Old School of Capitalism

A semifictional work and the masterpiece of Zilnik’s most recent period, The Old School of Capitalism is rooted in the first wave of workers revolts in Serbia. This comedy of encyclopedic scope addresses the sudden class warfare waged between workers, who found themselves kicked to the curb, and the beneficiaries of questionable privatization deals, who amassed immense wealth during Milosevic’s era. Zilnik orchestrates here several complex scenes populated by a lot of characters caught up in heated arguments. Steering their improvised political discussion, he films it with three cameras simultaneously in a testament to his democratic method and allows the antagonists to talk it over or even fight it out, refraining from offering any ready-made solutions. Filmed over a mere 11 days, the film captures the country’s final transition to capitalism. All the workers and activists play themselves.