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H-8 Movie Review

H-8 is a 1958 Croatian noir film directed by Nikola Tanhofer and starring Djurdja Ivezic, Boris Buzancic and others. It’s such an atmospheric movie.

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“I can’t read anything, you see.

For dumb books, I am too smart.

And for smart books, I am too dumb“

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A bus and a truck are destined to collide with each other on a highway. Their passengers go on about their lives without knowing what will happen. The premise is excellent. Whether real or not, the storyline is excellent. Following all of these characters traveling from Zagreb to Belgrade not knowing what we know, that they are going toward their apparent doom, led to such an eerie, tragic movie.

What I just loved about H-8 is its approach to storytelling. The movie pretty much works as a Croatian version of an American noir picture from the forties, and being a big fan of those films, I’ve had a blast watching this one as well.

Because the film has so many characters, not all are particularly memorable, but most are solidly developed, especially for such a short runtime. The acting is strong across the board, we got some very interesting relationships here and the dialogue is particularly great, most notably the intellectual discussions about literature and the arts.

H-8 is the most memorable in its elements of narration. Basically, what it does is incorporate narration as a big storytelling tool and a strong propeller of dangerous, creepy atmosphere. The beginning was the best utilization of this narration. Again, many noir movies have it too, but here it’s different and authentic in the rising tension of the narrator’s voice as he begins to shout as the two vehicles close in on a crash. It was powerful and very unique.

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However, it also led to a movie that had no surprises. Yes, it was dark and powerful following the characters whom you know are all gonna die soon, but the twists and turns are non-existent and the narration in the second half was overwhelming and even unnecessary at times. But the black-and-white cinematography is excellent, the score is just fantastic, especially in that grandiose opening, and the direction from Nikola Tanhofer is excellent and so is the film’s editing.

Though the narration in H-8 was a bit overwhelming in certain sections, it was undoubtedly mostly powerful and even authentic in the rising of the narrator’s voice to raise tension. The movie has too many characters, but most are interesting and following them on their impending doom was certainly very eerie. The cinematography and the score are both impressive and the direction is also very good. H-8 pretty much is a Croatian version of a 40s noir film and that was a blast to see.

My Rating – 4