100,000TH PERSON TO SEE BRESAN'S "MARSAL" GETS TV SET, CELL-PHONE

ZAGREB, April 19 (Hina) - Croatian director Vinko Bresan's comedy "Marsal" (The Marshall) has been seen by 100,000 viewers in Croatia thus far, which is a figure surpassing the Croatian box office results of some Hollywood blockbusters. When she bought her ticket to see the movie at Zagreb's Broadway- Tkalca on Tuesday evening, Andjela Bosnjak, a student, became the 100,000th person to see Bresan's comedy and was awarded by a television set and a cellular phone by the film's sponsors.#L# Hollywood blockbusters playing in Croatian cinemas have an average 10,000-25,000 viewers, the editor of Croatian cinema monthly "Hollywood", Veljko Krulcic, said on Wednesday, citing the example of Anthony Minghella's "The Talented Mr Ripley", which has been seen by some 15,000 people. The exceptions confirming the rule have been "Runaway Bride" and "American Pie", both American movies, each seen by more than 100,000 Croatians. In comparison, Croatian movies "Crvena prasina" (Red Dust) and "Da mi je biti morski pas" (Wish I Were a Shark) were seen by about 20,000, while another recent Croatian production, "Garcia", was seen by a mere 1,000 people. Bresan believes the more than 100,000 Croatians who have seen his "Marsal" indicate that it is profitable to finance Croatian movie- making which, he has stressed, is perhaps the liveliest segment of Croatian culture, one of the few capable of attracting such a high number of "consumers". "Marsal" is set on a small Croatian island whose inhabitants seem to experience visitations by the ghost of former Yugoslav federation President Josip Broz Tito, the Marshall from the title. (hina) ha mm