Locarno review: Hysterical Fit Of Laughter (2025)
Pardi di Domani
Corti d’Autore
In their previous feature, the quirky Have You Seen This Woman? (2022), the young Serbian filmmakers Matija Gluščević and Dušan Zorić dealt with the secret lives of possibly the same middle-aged woman named Draginja (played by the Croatian actress Ksenija Marinković), offering possible answers to the question of why she went missing and what she did during her disappearance. It was an omnibus of three stories framed by the prologue and the epilogue – and in them, she quit her job to attend rave parties, faked her marital happiness or lived in the community of homeless persons following her brief moment of stardom.
The topic is vaguely similar in their subsequent short Hysterical Fit of Laughter, but their approach to it is more austere, completely in line with the format. The film premiered at Locarno as part of the Corti d’Autore section.
At the beginning, though, their focus is different, as we presume that we are about to follow the destiny of a young man who came to the doctor’s office complaining about a cough. The helmers’ focus then shifts to the doctor (Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov), dedicated to her work and overall a seemingly pleasant person. Afterwards, she helps her young neighbour with her baby and engages in conversation with another neighbour about her dog.
But behind the closed doors of her flat, she keeps a secret. She is a dominatrix who gets visits from male clients who want humiliation. Once her son visits and confronts her about his findings of her “hobby”, a fierce argument ensues…
In a 4:3 aspect ratio and the “dirty”, hand-held cinematography by Aleksa Radunović, where pans and zooms serve as the means of the “internal editing”, Hysterical Fit of Laughter mimics the aesthetics of a home video. The washed-up colouring by Filip Tot, resembling an old Beta track (because VHS would be too ugly), fortifies that notion, while the production design by Milena Grošin and the costumes by Kristina Savić that channel the looks of the ordinary life in Serbia also fit in perfectly.
As was the case with their previous feature, one could read social criticism about the state of things in contemporary Serbia (and not just there), where people with respectable professions have to do shady stuff to get by. But it would be superficial, since Gluščević and Zorić are more interested in the inner lives of their characters, their psychological profiles and motivations. The result is a stunning discrepancy between the façade for the public and the essence that could only be exercised in a closed-off private setting. Powered by Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov’s strong acting and framed by the vision of the filmmakers, Hysterical Fit of Laughter is a remarkable short film.
Original title:
Histerični napad smeha
Year:
2025
Runtime:
15’ 36’’
Countries:
Serbia, Croatia
Language:
Serbian
Directed by:
Matija Gluščević, Dušan Zorić
Written
by: Matija Gluščević, Dušan
Zorić
Cast:
Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov, Momir Milošević, Radivoj Knežević,
Alex Elektra, Strahinja Marković, Bojana Lazić, Dušanka Bursać,
Boban Ilić
Cinematography by:
Aleksa Radunović
Editing by:
Olga Košarić
Production design
by: Milena Grošin
Costume
design by: Kristina Savić
Make-up
by: Ana Babić
Visual
Effects by: Vladan Đurić
Colourist:
Filip Tot
Produced
by: Čarna Vučinić, Damjan Knežević
Co-produced
by: Tena Gojić
Production
companies: Naked, Dinaridi
