Live fast, die young and be a beautiful corpse is a statement attributed to James Dean even though it was uttered in one of his favorite movies “Knock on Any Door” from 1949. The main (anti)hero of the sixth film by Serbian filmmaker Oleg Novković, the aging Belgrade rocker and member of the popular band Sinovi, Igor Đelić – Đela (Nikola Đuričko), apparently lived by that catchphrase. And while Đela obviously didn’t manage to die young due to that sex, drugs and rock’n’roll style, twenty years ago his best friend and bandmate managed to do it. And Đela is a typical example of an old guy, a guy of 40+ years who apparently never managed to calm down and adapt to a normal life for people of his age.
His life is still chaotic, alcohol and drugs are his daily routine, and although he is married to Sunčica (Nada Šargin) and they have a son and daughter, he does not hesitate to seduce almost every woman who comes his way. Sunčica is a former drug addict and also obviously quite a difficult and complicated person, and the two constantly argue, even fight, and this already chaotic everyday life will be further enhanced by the woman’s unexpected and disturbing confession, as well as the news that his 19-year-old daughter is pregnant. Đela will try to start over and will think that the time has finally come for him to correct some mistakes from the past, but the situation will completely get out of control and take him in a completely different direction.
“Living Man” was a slightly melancholic humorous drama about that rock’n’roll lifestyle and a guy who was obviously once a face, but the glorious days for Đela are a long time ago. However, that way of life for him is the only way of life he knows and in such a style as if he had achieved some of his ultimate freedom and managed to live according to the rules he created himself. Or rather, no rules. Aging is obviously something that someone forgot to tell those rock stars and that it comes with age, and the film has a special spirit and Đuričko carries the entire film with a convincing and charismatic performance, even when “Živ čovek” veers into some unexpected waters.