“You simply can’t resist the lovable nature of this film.”

An old man stands in a music store in Germany and gleefully finds a vinyl record of the music he and his jazz band used to create. He was a much younger man then, making a life for himself in the Balkans in the early 1960s. He buys the record without any hesitation, intent on showing it to his grandchildren, before coming to a stark realisation: they don’t have a record player. This opening scene not only sets the stage for Eighty Plus (Restitucija, Ili, San I Java Stare Garde) in terms of the story but also lays the foundation for the tone of this charming, endearing little film that deftly combines comedy and drama into a delightfully irreverent story of memory, self-discovery and the celebration of the arts. The most recent film from veteran Želimir Žilnik reflects on his own artistic journey by following the story of a man who moves back to his country to reclaim the home that had previously been owned by the government for decades, and now finally can be released to the remaining heirs. It takes the protagonist on a voyage into both the past and present, allowing him to cross paths with a range of characters, each one adding something new and compelling to his journey back home. A film that takes its time and invites us to take a memorable trip with a few fascinating characters, Eighty Plus is a solid, well-made work from a master who has rarely been more honest about many of the inevitabilities that we all have to face at one point or another.

For a film that presents itself as a very simple, subtle affair, Eighty Plus is remarkably layered in terms of the themes that inspire the story. At a glance, it does seem slightly more obvious – it’s a story about someone discovering quite late in life that there is always a possibility to reinvent oneself and find answers to decades-old questions. There is certainly something to be said about ageing as the primary motivation for the story – the director himself is one of the artists who the protagonist describes under the umbrella of the “eighty-plus”, the octogenarians who decide not to settle for placid retirement, but rather to continue pursuing their interests regardless of the opinions of those who believe that it would be better to simply recede into the final chapters of their long lives. However, beneath the surface we find that Eighty Plus is equally about the joys and challenges of getting older as it is about the burden of carrying certain memories, the fears and anxieties that come with realising that time is limited, and (perhaps most compelling of all) how art does not have an age limit, and that the only limitations are those that one sets themselves. The original title evokes the theme of restitution, the act of returning something to its rightful owner – and in this case, it refers not only to the house that anchors the story, but also the memories and sense of belonging that the main character had been seeking since his youth, suddenly now given back to him at a point in his life where he may not be able to enjoy it for very long but still relishes being given the chance at all.

It’s both surprising and delightful that one of the year’s most poignant and beautiful performances is delivered by a non-professional actor. Milan Bata Kovacevic portrays the lead, and while he is certainly not a newcomer to the world of entertainment (having worked as a jazz musician for almost his entire life, reflecting the character he is playing), this is his feature acting debut, proving that even at the age of eighty-nine it’s possible to reinvent yourself and pursue new avenues of artistic expression. His performance is reflective of the film as a whole – subtle, nuanced and very simple, focusing on the small details more than the broad strokes, which are ultimately left to the actors that surround him, charged with playing the more bombastic supporting parts that help ground the protagonist. The characterisation in this film is one of its greatest strengths, with the director putting the most effort into creating a protagonist (as well as a range of supporting players) who come across as distinct, well-crafted individuals that are mostly realistic and never resort to the same trite conventions we usually find with such stories. It’s a film driven by a three-dimensional approach to exploring these people as they go on these various journeys, allowing the performances to reflect the inherent truths that Žilnik chose as the point on which he would develop this entire narrative and its underlying themes.

Eighty Plus is a film that earns our affection more than it provokes thought – it doesn’t necessarily do anything we have not seen done before with just as much charm and interminable joy. Yet, you simply can’t resist the lovable nature of this film, which is about as pedestrian as such a story can be but certainly doesn’t waste a moment of our time, executing its ideas well and with enough candour to be taken more seriously than the trivial, offbeat comedy that it could have become in the hands of another director. While he may defer to Kovacevic when it comes to infusing the film with certain autobiographical elements, Žilnik still clearly has a strong understanding of the themes and what they represent, as this is the kind of film that could only be made by someone who has experienced the feeling of reaching a particular age and being told that there are certain age limits that society blindly follows. He dismantles this notion with his many creative decisions, as well as the firm command of the underlying emotional content that defines this film. More than anything else, Eighty Plus proves that the well-worn cliché that some stories are about the journey rather than the destination is not only true, but can be the foundation for a very charming film that looks beyond the obvious and delivers something quite memorable, even at its most rudimentary and simple.