Meto Jovanovski during a scene from the film Tattoo 1991
The actor Methodist “Meto” Jovanovski passed away on November 16th in Skopje. A portrait of a great master of Macedonian and Yugoslav cinema and theatre
Now that I can only speak in the past tense, perhaps I should limit myself to stating that Meto Jovanovski was a born actor, one of those actors of the old guard who put the spontaneity of character construction first. I could also add, obviously without wanting to offend his younger colleagues in any way, that today there are fewer and fewer actors like Jovanovski. Therefore, those actors who, even when they do not sigh, laugh or cry, manage to communicate feelings and emotions with a facial expression, understood as a mirror of the soul and spirit of every cinematographic and theatrical character.
Jovanovski was the protagonist of so many films and plays that even a simple list of the titles of his works, not to mention the awards he received, would take up the entire space reserved for this commemorative article. Therefore, those who want to know more can search online for information on dozens of cinematographic and theatrical works in which Jovanovski has acted, always in his own way.
Meto Jovanovski was born on 17 January 1946 in Pančarevo (at the time a part of the municipality of Berovo), in eastern Macedonia. He attended school in Delčevo. From an early age he demonstrated a talent for acting. Whenever he talked about his acting career, he mentioned his first role in a comedy by Jovan Sterija Popović called Bad woman [La donna malvagia]. After completing his high school studies, he worked for a certain period at the National Theater in Štip. Now a curious detail: he turned to the Belgrade Academy of Dramatic Arts twice, asking to be able to take part in the admission test. No reply. And Meto? He packed his bags – direction Sofia, year 1966.
Four years later he graduated from the Sofia Academy, as one of the students of the last generation of Professor Bojan Danovski, still considered an icon of Bulgarian theatre. Returning to Macedonia, Jovanovski was hired by the Skopje Drama Theatre, where he remained for forty years. It is worth remembering that many directors worked in this theater who left an indelible mark on the history of Yugoslav dramatic art: Ljubiša Georgievski, Slobodan Unkovski, Vladimir Milčni, but also some Belgrade directors. During his career, Jovanovski was an exceptional guest in theaters throughout Yugoslavia from Veles to Podgorica, passing through Strumica, Kumanovo, Sarajevo, Split, Belgrade. He was also dedicated to theater direction and teaching acting.
He made his film debut with a role in the film Macedonian part of hell [La parte macedone dell’inferno, 1971]inspired by the partisan struggle against the occupying forces (a theme that became very dear to the supporters of historical revisionism after the dissolution of Yugoslavia.) Speaking of Meto Jovanovski’s filmography, various sources tend to place emphasis on his roles in films Tattoo [Tatuaggio, 1991] by Stole Popov, Before the rain [Prima della pioggia, 1994] di Milčo Mančevski e When the day dawns [Quando si farà giorno, 2012] by Goran Paskaljević, as well as about the role of Dimče in a very popular television series entitled The village is burning and grandma is combing her hair [Il villaggio brucia, la nonna si pettina, 2007-2017] del regista Radoš Bajić.
As a simple spectator, I don’t feel like judging Jovanovski’s roles mentioned above. However, an observation expressed by Meša Selimović comes to mind when speaking about those critics who compared his works. According to Meša, by comparing different works by the same author, one inevitably ends up discrediting that author, albeit perhaps unconsciously. In any case, it is a very widespread and consolidated method.
However, this is not the time to criticize certain methods that are now commonplace. I will limit myself to listing some of Meto Jovanovski’s roles that are unforgettable in my opinion. I will mention just a few, given the limited space available: Vani Urmov in the film Red horse [Il cavallo rosso, 1981] e Dragoslav nel film Happy New ’49 [Buon anno ’49, 1986], both directed by Stole Popov; Dimitrije in the film Dorotej (1986) directed by Zdravko Velimirović, Rabbino nel film Third half [Il terzo tempo, 2012] by Darko Mitrevski…
In parallel with cinema, Jovanovski also carried out his theatrical activity (long ago, when I was still young, an old actor from the National Theater in Zenica told me that the soul of an actor is reflected more clearly in theatrical roles.) Jovanovski played numerous roles in the dramas of Yugoslav and foreign authors on theater stages throughout the former Yugoslavia. One of the last shows that saw him as a protagonist is Hilarious tragedy [Una tragedia esilarante]by Dušan Kovačević, directed by Velimir Mićunović, staged at the National Theater of Montenegro in 2014. For Kovačević, it was one of the best stagings of this opera.
For years now I have enjoyed reading interviews with artists and scientists. I keep a sort of catalog that I could title Words of good, talented and intelligent people. Is the order of the adjectives clear? If it isn’t, little changes. Or rather, it doesn’t matter. Meto Jovanovski was one of those people: good, talented, intelligent. I believe that deep down Jovanovski suffered from the tragedy of the dissolution of the former common country, but he was not one of those Yugonostalgics who only remembered the positive sides of the past. I am convinced that even in his sleep he was able to traverse that complex Yugoslav world with his eyes wide open. On his journey he has always encountered real people and humanity, without ever turning his gaze away in the face of negative social and (sub)cultural phenomena.
Otherwise, he would not have left us his critical observations encouraging us to reflect (a reflection, useful or not, is still better than obtuse indifference).
Here are some observations from Jovanovski.
“We live in an era of great changes, of deviant and retrogressive phenomena and of multiple contrasts. As an artist, I cannot claim to be happy and free in such an environment. The term ‘democracy’ is often used, but democracy is not anarchy”.
Of the work Hilarious tragedy he spoke frankly about Kovačević, comparing it to a real mental hospital in which young people pay the consequences of the sins and mistakes of adults. “Unfortunately, it is still a current issue. The deviant phenomena, the spiritual misery and the consequences that we cannot easily forget.” In the so-called “Balkan mentality” addressed in that work he glimpsed some rigid social patterns that “hold us back and take us back in time to another era”.
He detested nationalism.
“Nationalism has never brought anything good. Some profited by harming others, but in the end they too had to pay the price. Everything comes back sooner or later. Everything has a price, the only question is whether we pay it with money or with our heart and soul.”
For Jovanovski, we are the bad students of history because “we have become voracious, insolent, unscrupulous, treacherous, inhuman towards each other. Because we have forgotten the true and authentic traditional values, or rather those biblical and universal values of our civilization. Because we have forgotten the face of God, the icon of God which is a signpost and the only true point of reference for every human being. Because we have become what we must most tenaciously avoid being, blind hearts, we have allowed ‘Mr. Dollar’ to become a god, and us his faithful and obedient ‘children’.”
Playing Hamlet in the play of the same name staged by Slobodan Unkovski, he thought that for any actor that role was a climb of Everest. It is an unrepeatable opportunity for creativity and “immersion in an unknown world“. Meto Jovanovski – and there is no doubt about this point – has never forgotten the great and complex stage of History in Motion where each of us plays our own small role, but we must never stop asking ourselves how and with whom we play it. It seems to me to be a question that needs no explanation.
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