Heaven Without Love

Heaven Without Love (Pukotina raja, "a crack in heaven") is a Serbian-language Croatian drama film directed by Vladimir Pogačić, adapted from a novel by Milan Tuturov. It was released in 1959. The film was poorly received.

Plot
In Belgrade, Marija, a pharmacy student (Ljubica Jović) marries a medicine student, Slobodan Marković (Milan Puzić), in order to solve her existential issues. They grow older and their relationship changes. Slobodan abuses and ignores her, convinces her to have an abortion as she gets pregnant, and cheats on her with a nurse, so she starts a tragic love affair with Pavle Borovac (Antun Vrdoljak), a young journalist whom she meets at a beach.

Cast

 * Ljubica Jović as Marija Marković
 * Milan Puzić as Slobodan Marković
 * Tatjana Beljakova as Branka
 * Severin Bijelić as Inspector Naumović
 * Antun Vrdoljak as Pavle Borovac
 * Branko Tatić as Obrad Kratić
 * Zoran Longinović as Police Department Chief

Reception
The film was poorly received upon its release and was criticised for its perceived advocacy of Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy. Utilising psychological realism, the film was part of a trend of decreasing emphasis on ideology and regime compliance in Communist cinema towards the late 1950s. Tomislav Šakić of Kino Tuškanac likens the film to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane in its form as it tells the story from the point of view of a police investigation, and considers it an early feminist film for its portrayal of abortion.