NO PARENTS, JUST UNCLE JOE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

THERE WERE LOTS of orphans in Europe after World War II. Lots of movies have been made about them, too.

``The Great Water'' is the latest. It follows a standard pattern - terrified and disoriented urchins unloved and abused in horrific institution, Freudian flashing back and forward from the now-aged protagonist's perspective, surreal symbols of transcendence or escape.

What makes this one noteworthy is that it is set in Yugoslavia during the first postwar flush of Stalinist enthusiasm. More specifically, it's in the southernmost constituent republic of Macedonia. That's where both director Ivo Trajkov and author Zhivko Chingo, whose novel the film is based upon, hail from.

Little Lem (Saso Kekenovski) was unfortunate enough to have dead parents who were either Nazi collaborators during the occupation or simply members of the bourgeoisie. Such kids are imprisoned inside the walls of a former factory by a large lake (hence the title), where they're ruthlessly brutalized and indoctrinated with the hardest of Communist hard lines.

Lem pretty much goes through his new life in catatonic terror until a bigger boy, Isaac (Maja Stankovska), arrives. Rumored to have supernatural powers, the charismatic Isaac defies the strict apparatchiks who run the orphanage, and Lem develops a huge crush. Standoffish at first, Isaac eventually accepts Lem as his partner in religiously tinged crime - there's a dead cat resurrection that must be seen to be believed, if not persuaded by - until, inevitably under this kind of regime, betrayal becomes a necessity.

Though the film is deadly serious, there is some pitch black humor in the fanatic adoration its Stalin-lovers display. (History buffs take note: Yugoslav strongman Tito split from the Soviet dictator in 1948, after the main events of this film.) Particularly kooky, and scary, is Komrade Olivera (Verica Nedeska, who somehow keeps a straight face throughout her performance). She fetishizes everything from red sports shorts to a bust she's carving of the Russian leader. But her ideological zeal does not immunize her to Isaac's allure, much to Lem's jealous resentment.

Some juicy complexities and ironies eventually work their way in among the sad childhood cliches and Trajkov's tendency to make most of his shots look like they're transpiring in a dream. Or a nightmare.

``The Great Water's'' greatest value, though, is its depiction of a society that was as savagely committed to a false idea as its neighbor nations, but that somehow moved back toward reality - and humanity - before the Iron Curtain fell.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

THE GREAT WATER - Three stars

(Not rated: violence, sex, children in jeopardy, language, cat in jeopardy)

Starring: Saso Kekenovski, Maja Stankovska, Mitko Apostolovski, Verica Nedeska.

Director: Ivo Trajkov.

Running time: 1 hr. 30 min.

Playing: Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

In a nutshell: Sometimes too arty but still quite disturbing look at a Yugoslavian orphanage during the Stalinist period right after World War II. In Macedonian with English subtitles.

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Photo:

Maja Stankovska, left, and Saso Kekenovski play Yugoslavian orphans growing up in the time of Stalin in ``The Great Water.''