Films

A man discovers the existence of a race of intelligent rats capable of taking human form. Captured and brought before the leader of this secret society, he manages to escape, but is left tormented by doubt: how many of the people around him are, in fact, rats in disguise? Directed by Krsto Papić, a filmmaker known for his politically engaged cinema, this is a rare horror satire from the Eastern Bloc. Based on a short story by the Soviet writer Aleksandr Grin, it combines grotesque fantasy, political allegory and Gothic unease to criticise the mechanisms of dictatorship and foreshadow ethnic and social tensions. Regarded by critics as one of the best Croatian films of all time, it was Yugoslavia’s entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1977 and won an award at Fantasporto in 1981.