Nikola Popovic Movies
- 1987
In this melodramatic tale, the well-made plans of a career-obsessed woman are derailed when she sets her sights on a young man who is plainly not very interested in her. In the story, Katherina is an ambitious reporter for German television, and her Yugoslavian family background makes her a natural to cover stories in that country. While preparing a story on children with dual nationalities, she encounters Peter, a German lad who is researching his father's war record to see if he was guilty or innocent of war crimes. She brings Peter to see her family, and later her wooing efforts finally seem to bring her some promise of a relationship. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Sukowa, Horst-Günter Marx, (more)
Music and a changing culture provide new expressions for teen angst in this insightful story of the aspirations of several teens living in Belgrade in the 1950s. Four young men and their friend Esther (Gala Videnovic) form a band, hang out, and try to adjust to their changing lifestyle. Given their class backgrounds, they do not support a Communist or Socialist point of view. When Rile (Milan Strljic ), a slightly older teen and loyal Party member, romances Esther, he gets her pregnant and leaves town in a hurry. Esther's four friends take desperate measures to help her out, and unknowingly lock in their future into place with their decisions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gala Videnovic, Milan Strljic, (more)
- 1973
This Yugoslavian epic depicts the World War II military exploits of Marshall Tito (played here by Richard Burton), who later became the unrivalled ruler of that troubled country. During that war, he was instrumental in resisting Nazi efforts to exterminate the Yugoslav partisans. The film details the events surrounding the climactic battle with the Germans along the Sutjeska River. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1960
The topic of this routine, romantic drama is a little unusual -- it concerns what some prisoners do when they are allowed out of jail for two weeks before their sentences are up. Rather than receiving some special dispensation, it turns out that in Yugoslavia this was the custom. Most of the time, the men here are engaged in pursuits that forward their relationships with the fairer sex, as might be expected after a long and lonely incarceration. There is nothing particularly profound about their two weeks of liberty, and no deep message in the tale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikola Popovic, Mira Stupica, (more)
- 1960
This wartime drama by director S. Jankovic delves into the topic that remains a favorite in Yugoslav cinema -- World War II and the ways in which citizens went underground and fought against German occupying forces. Even though there were serious political differences among the resistance fighters, many of them were ordinary men and women, some trained in combat and some not. In this routine, episodic drama two of their stories are singled out for attention. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Buzancic, Branko Plesa, (more)
Although this uninspired Italian adventure film is loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's tale about a 19th-century clash between Czarist Russia and several ethnic groups in the Caucasus, Tolstoy's original talent is buried. Ponderous and quickly put together, the story stars Steve Reeves as the muscular hero known as the "White Warrior" who leads the defence against the Russians. ("White" in this case refers to his warrior's garb.) His defence strategy would be an easier task if there were not political intrigue and romantic hurdles to overcome within his own camp, obstacles which provide grist for the narrative mill. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giorgia Moll, Steve Reeves, (more)
- 1959
For once, this is a Yugoslavian drama that does not deal with the resistance movement during World War II, but it is still a post-war story -- and slow-paced at that. There is certainly potential in the focus which is on the survivors of Nazi death camps. As these men and women are liberated at the end of the war and return back home, they try to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Their individual struggles take up the 98-minute running time and would have been greatly enhanced if the characters of the people themselves had been more deeply plumbed. This film was an entry at the 1959 Pula Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bert Sotlar, Nikola Popovic, (more)
- 1950
The Unconquered People is a paean to the Yugoslav Partisans of WW II. When the Nazis invade their country, the partisans defiantly resist by any means necessary. Special attention is given the resistance movement's sabotage efforts against the German occupying troops. Surprisingly, these scenes are offered with little or no buildup: we know what happens, but we're never clued in as to the "who" and "why." To give the largely unrelated scenes some cohesion, the film offers a contrived romance between a young female partisan and the group's leader. Director Nikola Popovic shows up as an elderly, philosophical professor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
