Cabaret Balkan

In Cabaret Balkan, a callow Bosnian youth fatefully hooks up with a cynical drug dealer. A bitter old Serb forces himself on a pretty war widow. Everywhere in this series of overlapping vignettes, citizens of Belgrade smolder with rage, hatred, and despair. Director Goran Paskaljevic orchestrates their violently colliding destinies with an often heavy hand — but his excess is born of passion. The film's most resonant emotion is not Paskaljevic's anger, but his aching sorrow. B+