Rade Markovic Movies
- 1996
Set during the Belgrade anti-war student demonstrations of 1992, and based upon a novel by Slobodoan Selenic, this Serbian drama uses the parallel romantic tales of two generations of Serbian to comment upon and compare the brutality inherit in Milosevic's regime to that of Tito's with the point that the former is equal to or even worse than the latter. Builka is photographing participants in the demonstrations for her hip young publisher when she discovers Bogdan, a Serbian soldier with a broken leg who has been unable to get much help at the hospital. This is because he was born in a Croatian village. But despite his birthplace, Bogdan hates the Croats because they commandeered his ancestral home. Builka, who simply hates war, kindly takes Bogdan home and ministers him. She listens to his naïve, hateful rhetoric and counters it with a more logical pacifistic view. The two continue sparring and eventually they fall in love. Unfortunately, love is not stronger than Bogdan's sense of patriotism and he is again lured to the battle fields. While her relationship with Bogdan blossoms and fades, Builka runs across the WW II era diaries of her grandmother Jelena, a wealthy young woman whose country estate was seized by Tito's followers. Her step-father is then tossed in prison. To help get him out, Jelena cozies up to the brutal partisan leader Krsman, a man she simultaneously loathes and feels attracted to. When she also gets involved with her step-brother she invites tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
While a boisterous wedding party is going on in the village above them, an archaeological team, led by a doddering old professor, digs beneath. They have unearthed an old Roman-era artifact, a slab bearing some inscriptions which the professor rapidly translates while his slighly drunk coworkers look on, uncomprehending. His excitement about what he has found is too much for him, and he collapses with a heart attack. He awakens to find himself in a sort of afterlife state. The slab he discovered and was so excited about marked the entryway to the classical underworld. Now he is in a position to meet and speak with the spirits that have been trapped there. Alas, he finds that they are just as silly and petty as the peasants partying above what he (and they) believe to be his corpse. The party is still going on several days later when the professor's son arrive to take care of his father's estate. He is enraged to discover that his father has left all his archaeological work and his house to the villagers and starts burning and breaking his father's things. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rade Markovic, Bogdan Diklic, (more)
- 1987
In this tragic romance set in Ferrara, Italy in 1938, and at a nearby seaside resort, a wealthy Jewish boy is thwarted in marrying the girl he loves when Mussolini's race laws (enacted to cement the regime's growing alliance with Germany) take effect. Rather than suffer as a Jewess, his intended converts to Catholicism and marries a young fascist. Meanwhile, the town doctor, who is a homosexual, becomes increasingly outcast when he openly falls in love with a boxer. The boxer at first is the man's lover, but when he decides to beat and rob the doctor, no one comes to his aid, and later he commits suicide. This movie is part of a trilogy about prewar Ferrara by director Giuliano Montaldo. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Rupert Everett, (more)
- 1986
Politics issues dominate this sci-fi story set in 2041 in the former Yugoslavia. Most of Europe is now controlled by "thought police," but a former politician and an ex-cop are running a girls' boarding school in defiance of the current regime, modeled on the more idyllic 1980s. These partners want to revamp the ruins of Belgrade so electricity and water can be restored and the buildings made habitable again. The citizens are currently scattered across the countryside, and the film follows them, as well as the boarding school directors and a female reporter, as they all work together to confront the system. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scetolik Mikacevic, Rahela Ferari, (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)
- 1984
- PG
Supposedly focusing on the life of Sigmund Freud by means of a fictional secret diary, this attempt at satirizing the man from his childhood through his first forays into psychoanalysis is weak on laughter, especially since it is difficult to tell whether a scene is serious or not. Freud (Bud Cort) is portrayed as being too nauseated by blood and physical anatomy to make it through medical school, and because he misunderstands what practicing medicine is all about, he accidentally starts psychoanalyzing his patients. His Ultimate Patient (Dick Shawn) provides him with the theories that would make him famous. Presented as a series of nearly disconnected vignettes, this story about the relationships between Freud and a nurse (Carol Kane), and his mother (Caroll Baker) and a doctor, are meant to be funny, but are not quite. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Cort, Carol Kane, (more)
- 1983
In this slightly abstruse film, especially for anyone not familiar with the revolutionary fervor among East European students in 1968, a revolutionary who idolizes Che Guevara and has his own small group of followers, comes up against a mass of students at a university demonstration. While an actor declaims lines spoken by Danton from a play on the French Revolution, the devoted Che disciple stands up and exhorts the students in his own rhetoric, leaving them confused. In the end, he falls to his death from a window, and another "revolutionary" dressed up as Karl Marx picks up the sheets of paper of Che's writings near the dead man and continues on his way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danilo "Bata" Stojkovic, Rade Markovic, (more)
- 1982
As the horror of World War II is about to descend on Yugoslavia, a young intellectual in Zagreb is struggling with the meaning of life, his life in particular. He has a tendency to fall in love with women who are not likely to stay with one man for long, but his romantic interludes are cut short when the military calls him up for induction into the army. Completely against the whole idea of military service and a possible early death, he feigns insanity and it works -- he is released from serving his stint. Once back in a relationship with one woman, he takes a closer look at the crisis building around him -- and experiences an awakening, spawned, in part, by the suicide of a friend. With the realization that pending disaster is at hand, he turns around to enlist in the army again -- if he can convince them that he is "recovered" from his mental condition. Mira Furlan won "Best Supporting Actress" at the 1982 Pula Film Festival for her role as one of the lovers in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frano Lasic, Ljuba Tadic, (more)
- 1981
In just one 24-hour period, the workers and students at a Czech school are thrown into an upheaval because of a few disconnected events. The housekeeper/custodian at the school is retiring and since everyone found out rather late, a hasty retirement party is being put together at the last minute. Amidst the frenzied activity of preparations, an inspector is wandering here and there to check out accusations of sexual harassment against the assistant director. The protagonists are hard-put to pull off a successful party, and they resolve the accusations before the school comes apart at the seams. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Semka Sokolovic-Bertok, Bogdan Diklic, (more)
- 1981
A Yugoslavian tourist in Africa buys a flute from a very sick man at a bazaar, unwittingly picking up the dread disease of smallpox in the process. When the tourist passes through the controls at Belgrade airport, he is already feeling the effects of the sickness and ends up in a ward at a hospital while the doctors try to diagnose his condition. The chief doctor misdiagnoses the man's illness and as a consequence, the smallpox spreads like wildfire -- to the little boy in a bed near him, to an unfortunate plumber, to the nursing staff -- and he dies before these others also succumb, within a matter of hours. The doctor who guessed wrong about the man's condition locks himself up in his office for protection and injects himself with serum as a safety measure. Meanwhile, after much bumbling along, the place is quarantined and the World Health Organization has someone arrive in a space suit to decontaminate the hospital and end the epidemic. Though what has happened to the flute that started the deaths? Some remaining scenes clue the viewers in to this unsettling question. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rade Serbedzija, Rade Markovic, (more)
- 1981
The young hero of this story leads a life with more peaks and valleys than a rollercoaster ride and cannot seem to level out the fast track. The man's adult life (he was spawned from wealthy parents) begins with him studying medicine, living without the vices of either drink, drugs, or nicotine, playing his guitar when he has a moment, and enjoying the times he has with his rich girlfriend. Then he runs into a more liberated Swiss miss, and becomes entranced by her charms, his life of bucolic abstinence begins to fade as he discovers that his definition of sex had been limited. When his girlfriend abruptly -- and emphatically -- ends their relationship, he takes off and joins a punk-rock group, cultivating a whole new life style and becoming a singer in the process. That does not last, due to the fact that he cannot stay out of trouble, and when he is sent home by the police, he escapes after trouncing his father. After an accident, he mends his ways, gets married, and to all intents and purposes, has settled down to a quiet life after all. Exactly how much he may have settled down is open to question, apparently the rollercoaster ride has yet to come to a satisfactory stop. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aleksandar Bercek, Dara Dzokic, (more)
- 1979
Set in Dubrovnik, this drama chronicles a friendship, between three men, that began just before World War II. One of the men is of Italian origin, another is the wealthy heir of a shipping fortune, and the third is the son of a Jewish antique-store owner. Before the war, they are fast friends, enjoying one another's company at carnivals and at a private fencing club. When the war comes, the Italians and Germans move in to create the state of Croatia. The Italian boy becomes a fascist and courts and marries the sister of his rich friend. Soon enough, atrocities are being committed, and anyone suspected of Jewish parentage, or of leftist leanings, is killed. The Jewish boy and the factory owner's son escape the general roundup, take revenge for some of the indignities they and their families have suffered, and join the anti-fascist underground ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frano Lasic, Boris Kralj, (more)
- 1976
In this wartime comedy, a troupe of partisans have an assignment which requires that they pretend to be a minister of the collaborationist Serbian government and his staff. The need to get into a city and execute the members of a German-trained group which is systematically killing communists. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vojislav Brajovic
- 1975
Pavle (Bekim Fehmiu) is an honest man, and he has a crusade: he is responding to Tito's Call-to-Order letter which urges that people root out corruption. Pavle knows about some corruption in his own factory; the higher-ups have their own private beaches and resorts in payment for some shady deals they have done. He does not meet with a very warm response when he tries to make these abuses known. Pavle Pavlovic the film, also met with a cool response from Yugoslav officialdom; even though it was inspired by Tito's own crusade, it made the system of "self-rule" look bad. Because of this, the film was barred from competing in the 1975 Yugoslav Film Festival, though it was allowed to be shown. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bekim Fehmiu, Milena Dravic, (more)
- 1975
Responding to the material demands of his young wife, a fiftyish man who runs an import-export firm engages in some corrupt activities, and runs into trouble. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabijan Sovagovic, Jagoda Kaloper, (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
- 1971
Acclaimed Czech filmmaker Jan Kadar adapted this depressing but effective drama from a best-selling novel by Lajos Zilahy. Yanos (Rade Markovic) is a married fisherman who falls in love with a beautiful and mysterious amnesiac woman, Anada (Paula Pritchett) whom he rescues from the water. The morally upright Yanos suppresses his lust for the woman, but becomes furiously jealous whenever she is approached by other men. His pent-up emotions consume him to the point where he ignores his sick wife (Milena Dravic), with tragic consequences. Kadar gets good performances from his talented cast, and the film is quite moving despite a year's delay in production resulting from the 1968 invasion of the country by Soviet troops. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1970
Cafe patrons are forced to decide what side to fight on when the Nazis invade Yugoslavia in World War II. When the Nazi flag is raised in town, they go underground to discuss their political allegiances. A core of partisans holds out against the Germans as the enemy tracks them down. When a Czech acrobat comes to town, both sides put off the fighting long enough to witness his high wire act. His symbolic walk temporarily unites people in the middle of the war in this satirical World war II saga. The title refers to the mode of transportation used by both sides of the conflict. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Milena Dravic, Ljubisa Samardzic, (more)
- 1970
Burdush (Jovan Janiciljevic-Janacko) is the carefree gypsy bass player who performs in small clubs as part of a trio. His wife disappears but the disappointed Burdush goes on with the show. The trio wins money gambling and he sets out to finds his wife somewhere in Germany. A friend locates her in Yugoslavia and tries to unite the separated lovers. Although his musical group is now rich, they prefer to live the same way before they encountered their financial windfall. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1968
Two soldiers who helped liberate a town from the enemy return home at the end of World War II to find their own village has been destroyed. The only living soul left is a crazy German who wanders aimlessly around the rubble. The soldiers are driven insane due to their inability to halt their violent behavior in peacetime. They struggle with the hero worship of the town they liberated as the madness of war continues after the guns have stopped shooting. The two argue over a woman before taking their weaponed frustrations out on the harmless German half-wit and each other in the tragic aftermath of war, death and destruction. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danilo "Bata" Stojkovic
- 1967
Yugoslavian resistance fighters send out eight men on a suicide mission to bomb the airport in this World War II action drama. The locals have successfully kept the Nazis at bay on the ground, but the German Luftwaffe looms as a bigger and more dangerous threat. The film was popular at the box office in Yugoslavia and was well received by the audience at the 1967 Pula Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rade Markovic, Velimir "Bata" Zivojinovic, (more)
