Journalist (Novinar) is a 1979 Croatian drama film directed and written by Fadil Hadà ¾iàand starring Rade à  erbedà ¾ija, Fabijan à  ovagoviàand Stevo à ½igon.
A politically provocative drama about an idealistic journalist who fights against censorship in the communist system, it is considered one of Hadà ¾iÃÂ's best and most popular films, as well as one of the most prominent Croatian films of the 1970s.
Vlado Kovaà(Rade à  erbedà ¾ija) is a journalist in a Zagreb daily newspaper. One morning, in a drunken outburst, he attacks a newsstand and throws the newspapers to the ground. This prompts a meeting of the journalists' communist organization where KovaÃÂ's case is discussed. In the meeting, it transpires that the root cause of his revolt is dissatisfaction with the journalistic freedom in the newspaper: KovaÃÂ's article about the workers' strike in the Mikros tools factory was stopped by Mirko, the editor (Tonko Lonza). In the meeting, Kovaàis sharply confronted by Tomac (Stevo à ½igon) and is defended by Nada (Vera Zima), KovaÃÂ's colleague.
Things take a turn for the worse for KovaÃÂ when Tomac becomes the new editor. He appreciates KovaÃÂ as a highly capable journalist and tries to win him over, but KovaÃÂ is adamant. KovaÃÂ's wife (Milena ZupanÃÂiÃÂ) criticizes him for his self-centeredness and alcohol abuse, leaves him, and files for divorce. There is a turnaround in the Mikros strike when the Party decides to side with the workers, and Tomac now commissions KovaÃÂ to write an article similar to the one that was originally censored, which he refuses.
Kovaàbefriends Kos (Fabijan à  ovagoviÃÂ), an old journalist. Over time, many similarities emerge between the two: Kos was also highly educated and dedicated to his profession, but grew embittered and dejected over time, sinking into alcoholism. When Kos dies from alcohol overdose, Kovaàwrites his obituary - only to find it heavily censored in the newspaper on the following day.
Journalist has been described as one of the most prominent examples of a subgenre which Croatian film historian Ivo à  krabalo has called the "feuilletonist cinema" (). It is a Yugoslav variety of the Western-made political cinema, characterized by topical analysis of Yugoslav society and its problems, such as social inequality, careerism and inter-ethnic tension. In this aspect, Journalist is a continuation of political themes seen in earlier Hadà ¾iÃÂ's films such as Protest and The Deer Hunt, as all three films center on a "revolutionary puritan engaged in a futile, obstinate, self-destructive battle against practical deviations of Yugoslav communism".
Although some Croatian film critics have described the film as exceptionally daring, Jurica PaviÃÂiàfound such assessments somewhat overstated, particularly in comparison with films of the Yugoslav Black Wave. Nevertheless, he noted that Journalist was not only much more piercing than other feuilletonist films, but also much more pessimistic: there is no happy end, as the film ends with the message that the establishment always prevails - crushing its opposition in the process - and that the system cannot be fixed. In retrospect, Hadà ¾iàsaw the film's central theme of journalistic integrity under attack of the powers-that-be still relevant in the early 21st century, a decade after the demise of the one-party system. In 1987, Hadà ¾iànamed Journalist â with Protest and The Ambassador â among his best three films, and noted:
Journalism is also not a unique topic in Hadà ¾iÃÂ's films - other examples include Official Position and Back of the Medal - but here it receives the most exhaustive treatment. Hadà ¾iÃÂ, a former journalist and editor-in-chief of Vjesnik u srijedu, a highly popular 1950s Zagreb-based weekly magazine, gave the film an authentic feel readily recognized by professional journalists. Reminiscing on the film in 2002, Hadà ¾iàstated:
Journalist was popular and well received. Fadil Hadà ¾iàwon the Golden Arena for Best Director at the 1979 Pula Film Festival. Despite the film's success, Hadà ¾iàhad to wait for five years before he got the chance to shoot his next film, The Ambassador.
While some critics see Journalist as an undeservedly overlooked classic, others find that the film's expressiveness and narrative soundness lag behind Hadà ¾iÃÂ's best works. The critics' main complaint is the shallow characterization of the protagonist: his idealism and revolt seem completely unmotivated, even implausible, and his disagreeable, aloof disposition makes him difficult to sympathize with. Writing about the film in 2002, Croatian film critic Damir Radiàcharacterized it as convincing in its treatment of the topic, but creatively less inspired.