Milan Strljic Movies

Branko is a self-involved fellow who has somehow managed to win the attention of two women: his wife, and a fairly plain (but blonde) woman. His wife and he are somewhat at odds, if only for his tendency to prefer chess games to bedroom antics. One day they are on a train to visit their son, who is in hospital, and they are so angry with each other that they split up. He goes one direction to watch a chess game, she stays in their compartment. Unfortunately, she is in a compartment sufficiently remote that when she is raped by three men, her shrieks and cries go unheard. Branko is just heading back to their seats when he comes across his wife wailing and pulling open the outside door to the train. Before he can get to her, the distraught woman jumps to her death. Afflicted with partial amnesia, it is difficult for him to assist the police with their inquiries. However, on a similar train trip, he is able to put it all together and, curiously, the same villains are aboard, and he cold-bloodedly does each one of them in. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Three generations of men in a small farm in Croatia are caught in the throes of a generation gap that seems too wide for anyone to bridge. One day the grandfather unsuccessfully tries to hang himself in a desperate attempt to fight his son's modern methods of farming, methods that would trash their family traditions, from his point of view. At the other extreme, the young grandson leaves because he cannot accept the way the farm is managed now -- though he is certain to come back, he needs to escape for awhile. He meets up with a fair maid and enters into a brief liaison before he finds that he is very much enamored of a beautiful mute woman -- and his feelings are reciprocated. In order to further their official relationship, he takes her home to a family gathering, only to churn up the superficially calm waters of the family's diverse personalities; it turns out that his father cannot tolerate the woman's inability to speak. As the disagreements rise to a crescendo, the family will either have to come to terms with their differences, or they may be in danger of disintegrating. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In parallel stories of different types of successes in life, one man has become rich after 15 years outside of his home in Vojvodina (a northern autonomous province of Yugoslavia) and returns to celebrate with everything he ever wanted but could not afford -- wine, women, parties and then more wine and women. The townsfolk might appreciate his ability to make money, but they are a lot less generous when it comes to how he is spending it, and they turn against him in the end. In the other story, another man's success has always been with women, all women, anywhere he can find them. This segment goes through several sexually explicit encounters in a glorified closet, a backroom, an open field -- with the young man's enthusiastic participation. Whether or not the townsfolk are equally aware of his clandestine exploits, he certainly meets with their approval when he reconsiders and decides to marry, devoting himself to the one woman he actually loves. Other individuals who come and go through the stories reinforce the theme of ethical sexual standards, though the movie's graphic sexual scenes may seem to many viewers to be at odds with its message. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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