U potresnoj priči obožavatelj Zlatko ispričao je kako je doslovno riskirao svoj život za The Artist.

„Ja sam iz Hrvatske, imam 29 godina i veliki sam obožavatelj The Artist-a još od 1982. godine. Prva pjesma koju sam čuo bila je ‘Mala crvena korveta’. Od tada sam postao potpuno opsjednut — neka vrsta Prince manije me obuzela. Svaki put kad bi objavio album, kupio bih ga. Počeo sam skupljati razne fotografije — velike, male, crno-bijele, nije bilo važno… Imao sam oko 3000 fotografija.

Problemi u Hrvatskoj počeli su 1990. godine. Mogli su se čuti tenkovi, teška artiljerija, sve. Došlo je vrijeme da napustimo svoje domove. Uzeo sam video kasetu ‘Purple Rain’ i ostale Princeove stvari iz svoje kolekcije, stavio ih u kutiju i zakopao. Zatim sam počeo bježati jer sam vidio da dolaze naoružani Srbi. Bili su poput vampira, poput čudovišta.

Tijekom četiri godine bio sam u osam izbjegličkih kampova. Bez njegovih pjesama, energije i glazbe ne bih se mogao nositi s tim. Poludio bih.“

Zlatko je odlučio da vrijedi riskirati život kako bi ponovno slušao The Artist-a. Napustio je izbjeglički kamp i prešao 100 kilometara kroz ledene zimske uvjete do mjesta gdje je zakopao svoju kolekciju.

„Kopao sam zemlju kao pas jer sam bio nestrpljiv da dođem do svojih stvari. Shvatio sam da ću ga ponovno moći slušati, pa sam se vratio u izbjeglički kamp i opet ga slušao — bilo je tako lijepo.“

Zlatko Hodak Pinokio

In a deeply moving story, a fan named Zlatko shared how he literally risked his life for The Artist.

“I am from Croatia, I’m 29 years old, and I have been a huge fan of The Artist since 1982. The first song I ever heard was ‘Little Red Corvette.’ From that moment on, I became completely obsessed—some kind of Prince mania took over me. Every time he released an album, I bought it. I started collecting all kinds of photos—big, small, black and white, it didn’t matter. I had around 3,000 photographs.

The problems in Croatia began in 1990. You could hear tanks, heavy artillery—everything. It was time to leave our homes. So I took my ‘Purple Rain’ video cassette and other Prince items from my collection, put them all in a box, and buried it. Then I started running because I saw armed Serbian forces approaching. They were like vampires, like monsters.

I lived in eight refugee camps over four years. Without his songs, his energy, and his music, I wouldn’t have been able to cope. I would have lost my mind.”

Zlatko decided it was worth risking his life just to hear The Artist again. He left the refugee camp and walked 100 kilometers through freezing winter conditions to the place where he had buried his collection.

“I just dug into the ground like a dog because I was so eager to get my things back. I realized I would be able to listen to him again, and I returned to the refugee camp and started listening once more—it was so beautiful.