The Priest’s Children directed by Vinko Bresan is one of the
more mainstream films I saw at CIFF 2013. It was silly, comical, family-friendly
and lacking in substance. However, I don’t feel strongly enough to trash it or
dismiss it outright. A film experience like this doesn’t warrant
such emotion. My feelings are mixed, somewhere between disappointment and
annoyance. I’ll admit though, I was mildly amused.
The premise is plain as day. Set in futuristic Croatia,
where the country’s death rate considerably outweighs its birth rate, a man
confesses to a priest that he is a murderer. He kills people before they are
born, that is, by working for a condom factory. Did that score a chuckle out of you? Then
perhaps this is your kind of film. Petar goes on to state that he cannot afford
to lose his job, but can’t help feeling guilty for sinning in this manner. The
priest lets him in on an idea, one that allows him to eat his cake and have it
too. He advises the man to prick a tiny hole in every condom before it is
packaged. The two men conspire together on a quest- to reverse the death-rate-to-birth-rate
ratio- with the help of an eccentric pharmacist who takes up the task of replacing contraceptives with vitamin pills.
