Geste i grimase

Gestures and Grimaces is Marinković's first book of theater criticism and essays, created from texts published in literary and theater periodicals during the 1940s. In it, the author analyzes the works and poetics of great playwrights, including Molière, Carlo Goldoni, William Shakespeare, Luigi Pirandello and others, while simultaneously reflecting on the nature of theater art, the relationship between dramatic text and performance, and the role of the actor and director. The essays go beyond the framework of classical theater criticism: they are a combination of literary analysis, aesthetic reflection, and personal essayistic expression, marked by erudition, wit, and stylistic precision.

The book also includes the famous essay On the Mechanics and Poetics of Film, in which Marinković considers the film medium as an art in its own right, confirming the breadth of his interests outside of theater. Gestures and Grimaces represents one of the fundamental works of Croatian theater and essay literature and an important document of Marinković's artistic poetics.