Production year: 1960
Duration: 85 minuta
Technique: black and white
Genre:
Director:
Relja, Mate
Production house:
Jadran film
Camera:
Pinter Tomislav
Synopsis:
After the war, a Yugoslav army captain, Vladimir, is in charge of suppressing armed supporters of the former king’s regime, led by major Momir. After Vladimir’s best friend is killed, he joins the rebels pretending to be one of the king’s supporters. However, one of Momir’s supporters, a man who harbors rebels, has an attractive daughter who is engaged to marry Momir. She knows that Vladimir is an officer of the Yugoslav army, because she has seen him wearing a Yugoslav uniform. Vladimir fears that she might betray him…
Cast:
Dušan Bulajić (captain Vladimir), Hermina Pipinić (daughter of Momir’s harborer of outlaws), Ilija Džuvalekovski (major Momir), Stane Potokar (Momir’s harborer of outlaws), Zlatko Crnković, Pavle Vuisić, Milan Srdoč, Stole Aranđelović, Ivo Pajić, Nevenka Stipančić, Tedy Sotošek, etc.
Country of production:
Federative National Republic of Yugoslavia (National Republic of Croatia)
Screenplay:
Milutin Janković
Music by:
Danilo Danev
Edited by:
Blaženka Jenčik
Set designer:
Vladimir Tadej
Costume designer:
Commentary:
This debut feature film by Mate Relja is an extremely well done postwar action-thriller that draws from American films of the same genre. Considering the era in which it was made, it is especially remarkable that the director managed to avoid infusing the work with political ideology (the outlaws are not called Chetniks, even though one may conclude that that is what they are because of their fight for the king’s return and iconography). This film’s classical division of positive and negative characters seems to reference westerns. At the same time, it is unusual in that a good portion of events unfold from the perspective of negative characters, and the director constantly tries to balance their good and bad traits. Since this is a genre film, psychological development is relatively weak, but it still functions in this genre. The director Mate Relja did a great job and it is surprising that later, especially after his international success with the children’s film Opasni put, he did not create many more films.
Screening permit: from January 30, 1960
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