Directing

Vanča Kljaković

Born 1930-03-20 · Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia

Vanca Kljakovic was born on 20 March 1930 in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia. He was a director and writer, known for Hotelska soba (1975), Kljuc (1965) and Kuzis stari moj (1973). He was married to Vida Tucan and Zdenka Hersak. He died on 16 September 2010 in Croatia. Kljaković graduated from classical high school in his native Split . He studied and graduated in acting at the Academy of Theater Arts in Belgrade , and then at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, he studied and graduated in directing in the class of Dr. Branko Gavella. Kljaković appeared in Croatian theater and film life at the end of the 1950s , first as an actor and screenwriter and then, in the early 1960s , as a director at the then Zagreb Drama Theater (today GDK Gavella ). He was employed at the "Gavella" theater until 1970 , and then worked as a freelance artist. From 1996 until his retirement, he worked at the Croatian National Theater in Split : after that engagement, he became almost the "house director" of the Split City Youth Theater , where his wife, costume designer Vida Tućan , was one of his most loyal collaborators . For the past fifteen years, he has successfully collaborated with the City Puppet Theater in Split. Vanča Kljaković made his debut as a film director in 1965 with the film Duga ulica , the first part of the Ključ omnibus . Then followed the films The Eleventh Commandment (1970), My Old Man's Home (1973) and Slow Motion (1979). In 1987, he directed the film Marjuča ili smrt , and a year later Buža , perhaps his most valuable film production based on the story and screenplay of the same name by Živko Jeličić .

Acting credits

Behind the camera

No artwork available
6.8

Our hero is Glista - a young Zagreb punk whose (sub)urban adventures depict his world and philosophy.

Ya Know, Mate

1973

No artwork available
6.8

Our hero is Glista - a young Zagreb punk whose (sub)urban adventures depict his world and philosophy.

Ya Know, Mate

1973

The Hole poster
7.7

Two neighbors quarrel through the hole in the wall which connects their bedrooms.

The Hole

1989

Giovanni poster
NR

Through the window of his old building, curious and idle Mr Piero "spies" the apartment across the street where lives Giovanni, an Italian soldier. Despite his wife's resentment and ridicule from the neighborhood, Piero cannot resist the temptation of dangerous surveillance. His curiosity is heated upon noticing that his neighbor returned from the war campaign in the hinterland with bloodied hands.

Giovanni

1976

The Pianist poster
NR

A young pianist joins the partisans because he decides not to play for the Germans before the scheduled concert. By taking a random path, guided by his conscience, he was initially accused of being a spy. The young pianist will feel a certain uneasiness among the partisans all the time, thinking that the task of the moment is only a direct struggle with the enemy.

The Pianist

1983

The Pianist poster
NR

A young pianist joins the partisans because he decides not to play for the Germans before the scheduled concert. By taking a random path, guided by his conscience, he was initially accused of being a spy. The young pianist will feel a certain uneasiness among the partisans all the time, thinking that the task of the moment is only a direct struggle with the enemy.

The Pianist

1983

The Eleventh Commandment poster
7.0

A middle-aged man comes to visit his old war friend, only to find out that his friend's 15-year old daughter is alone at home and prepares for the date with her boyfriend. Despite the age difference, the two develop chemistry and understanding in otherwise uncomfortable settings.

The Eleventh Commandment

1970

My Dear Benefactors poster
NR

The satirical story is about the abuse of provincial party managers in the 1970s.

My Dear Benefactors

1970

Either We Are or Aren't poster
NR

Luka Šušmek, a servant, daily laborer and a bit of a vagabond, makes his way through life with his favorite phrase – “either we are, or we are not”, but it causes nothing but troubles to him.

Either We Are or Aren't

1977

The Experiment of Professor Hincic poster
NR

Retelling of G .B. Shaw's Pygmalion set in Zagreb in the beginning of the 20th century.

The Experiment of Professor Hincic

1988

The Experiment of Professor Hincic poster
NR

Retelling of G .B. Shaw's Pygmalion set in Zagreb in the beginning of the 20th century.

The Experiment of Professor Hincic

1988

Slow Motion poster
5.3

A 40 year old former football star and idol of his generation feels that there's a gap between him and the rest of his peers. In order to cross divides over, he makes 20th anniversary party for his school friends he graduated with, only to find out that things are more complicated than he first thought.

Slow Motion

1979

Marjuca or Death poster
5.8

The town of Split in the 1930s during Italian occupation. A boy torn between kid's games and sexual awakening finds more about the latter at the nearby whorehouse who works non-stop.

Marjuca or Death

1987

Marjuca or Death poster
5.8

The town of Split in the 1930s during Italian occupation. A boy torn between kid's games and sexual awakening finds more about the latter at the nearby whorehouse who works non-stop.

Marjuca or Death

1987

The Key poster
7.8

Segment "Duga ulica" (A Long Street): A young man named Boris and a girl, Vera, live in the same neighborhood. They meet one night when she loses her key. Boris invites her to spend the night at his place; Segment "Čekati" (To Wait): Married students, Ivan and Sonja, live in an old woman's apartment. She is sick and the couple hopes that she will die soon, so that they may inherit her apartment; Segment "Poslije predstave" (After the Play): A husband and a wife lose the key to their apartment and have to spend the night in a hotel. The experience is wonderful and renews their feelings for each other, if only for a night.

The Key

1965

The Key poster
7.8

Segment "Duga ulica" (A Long Street): A young man named Boris and a girl, Vera, live in the same neighborhood. They meet one night when she loses her key. Boris invites her to spend the night at his place; Segment "Čekati" (To Wait): Married students, Ivan and Sonja, live in an old woman's apartment. She is sick and the couple hopes that she will die soon, so that they may inherit her apartment; Segment "Poslije predstave" (After the Play): A husband and a wife lose the key to their apartment and have to spend the night in a hotel. The experience is wonderful and renews their feelings for each other, if only for a night.

The Key

1965

A Little Inscription of Marko Uvodic from Split poster
NR

Split, Christmas morning in 1900. Judge wants to go to the market , but it is disabled by a cunning lawyer and cases that must be urgently addressed. Šjora File is accused of killing her husband, a lawyer calls for acquittal . The following hearing , lining up the " Scenes from a Marriage Dalmatian style " when a judge fails get past šjor File and when he thought he would soon be able to go to the market , it comes Martin , Vlaj where they stole a rooster . In an unusual hearing the judge lost his temper and himself become one of the participants in the case.

A Little Inscription of Marko Uvodic from Split

1997

Suicider poster
NR

Drama. Zagreb at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Officer Ivan Meznar returns home from prison, but his wife and friends do not welcome him as he expected. Convinced that there is no other way out, this honorable man decides to commit suicide, but in the idyll of his native Zagorje, he meets the love of his early youth, which again puts him to the test. Vanca Kljakovic wrote the play Suicide based on Luigi Pirandello's novel Sun and Shadow.

Suicider

1985

Suicider poster
NR

Drama. Zagreb at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Officer Ivan Meznar returns home from prison, but his wife and friends do not welcome him as he expected. Convinced that there is no other way out, this honorable man decides to commit suicide, but in the idyll of his native Zagorje, he meets the love of his early youth, which again puts him to the test. Vanca Kljakovic wrote the play Suicide based on Luigi Pirandello's novel Sun and Shadow.

Suicider

1985

The Organ and the Firemen poster
NR

A young female student of music finds herself in a Dalmatian town in order to practice organo playing in the local church, and there she falls in love with a timid young man who helps her with it.

The Organ and the Firemen

1974