The film Class Enemy by Rok Bicek broaches a new dimension as is found in Slovenia. In the compelling Class Enemy, a group of teens accuse their demanding new German teacher and his demeaning methodologies when one of their classmates commits suicide out of conflicting situation. The death leads a colossal battle of wills at the high school, not evident earlier. The Slovenian helmer Rok Bicek demonstrates an intense control of tension and suspense, making each encounter between class and instructor, sparking off the possibility of violence. The film is a given a convincingly climatic plot, character-and-situation-driven drama. All that makes it a niche art-house distribution a possibility in some territories.

At the outset we are given an academic year nearly over for a tightly knit bunch of high school seniors. But nastily the atmosphere in the classroom mutates when Nusa (Masa Derganc), their beloved homeroom teacher, goes on maternity leave and is replaced by German authoritarian Robert (Igor Samobor). This cold, intellectual brainbox believes in showing his new charges who’s is to be the boss; he requires them to stand when he enters the room and believes that he can only seem to have established order when they show respect. While Nusa has shown great sensitivity to the students’ private lives and personalities, Robert displays no such virtue if grace and softness. Thus he ignores the feelings of the grieving Luka (Voranc Boh), whose mother recently died, and of shy pianist Sabina (Dasa Cupevski), who is hypersensitive to criticism. In twisting reality, When Robert delivers some scathing remarks to Sabina and she hangs herself shortly afterward without leaving a note. The tragedy sparks off a student rebellion against the system in general and Robert in particular.

The credible screenplay by Bicek stresses the generational binary between the students and the school administration, reflecting a general dissatisfaction within contemporary Slovenian society. At first it look like microcosm but in fact it is a major macrocosm that needs to be probed. Moreover, positioning Robert as a German teacher provides an important subtext: It introduces a model of a his characterization as a Nazi by the kids, and his lessons from Thomas Mann, which is a comment on suicide in a way that not only antagonizes the students but provokes them to ponder..

As a director, Bicek capitalizes on the differences in energy among the teens and the adults to persuasive effect. The tone set in a way reveals animosity against fascistic tendency. Bicek even inserts pithy commentary on Slovenian social problems in subtle manner so as to enlighten his countrymen through an outsider, Chinese student Chang (Kangjing Qiu), who notes, “You Slovenians. If you’re not killing yourself, you’re killing each other.” Class Enemy shows how not to make political film but how to make a film politically. The film offers a three-dimensional reality, crude, cruel and inhuman.

The film Class Enemy by Rok Bicek broaches a new dimension as is found in Slovenia. In the compelling Class Enemy, a group of teens accuse their demanding new German teacher and his demeaning methodologies when one of their classmates commits suicide out of conflicting situation. The death leads a colossal battle of wills at the high school, not evident earlier. The Slovenian helmer Rok Bicek demonstrates an intense control of tension and suspense, making each encounter between class and instructor, sparking off the possibility of violence. The film is a given a convincingly climatic plot, character-and-situation-driven drama. All that makes it a niche art-house distribution a possibility in some territories.

At the outset we are given an academic year nearly over for a tightly knit bunch of high school seniors. But nastily the atmosphere in the classroom mutates when Nusa (Masa Derganc), their beloved homeroom teacher, goes on maternity leave and is replaced by German authoritarian Robert (Igor Samobor). This cold, intellectual brainbox believes in showing his new charges who’s is to be the boss; he requires them to stand when he enters the room and believes that he can only seem to have established order when they show respect. While Nusa has shown great sensitivity to the students’ private lives and personalities, Robert displays no such virtue if grace and softness. Thus he ignores the feelings of the grieving Luka (Voranc Boh), whose mother recently died, and of shy pianist Sabina (Dasa Cupevski), who is hypersensitive to criticism. In twisting reality, When Robert delivers some scathing remarks to Sabina and she hangs herself shortly afterward without leaving a note. The tragedy sparks off a student rebellion against the system in general and Robert in particular.

The credible screenplay by Bicek stresses the generational binary between the students and the school administration, reflecting a general dissatisfaction within contemporary Slovenian society. At first it look like microcosm but in fact it is a major macrocosm that needs to be probed. Moreover, positioning Robert as a German teacher provides an important subtext: It introduces a model of a his characterization as a Nazi by the kids, and his lessons from Thomas Mann, which is a comment on suicide in a way that not only antagonizes the students but provokes them to ponder..

As a director, Bicek capitalizes on the differences in energy among the teens and the adults to persuasive effect. The tone set in a way reveals animosity against fascistic tendency. Bicek even inserts pithy commentary on Slovenian social problems in subtle manner so as to enlighten his countrymen through an outsider, Chinese student Chang (Kangjing Qiu), who notes, “You Slovenians. If you’re not killing yourself, you’re killing each other.” Class Enemy shows how not to make political film but how to make a film politically. The film offers a three-dimensional reality, crude, cruel and inhuman.