Pavle Vujisic Movies

Rafal u Nebo (Shots in the Sky) is one of several late-1950s Yugoslavian films to deal with the WWII partisan movement. Upon returning home at war's end, a young lieutenant discovers that his family has been murdered by the Nazis. It's all the handiwork of a treasonous "Chetnik," who during the war worked against the partisans on behalf of the Germans. In bitter retaliation, the lieutenant sets about to decimate the Chetnik's family. He stops short, however, when he realizes that the sins of the fathers are not always passed down to the innocent children. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set during World War II and the German invasion of Yugoslavia, this fast-paced, evocative drama tells the story of a group of men trapped between slow starvation and sudden death. As the German army advances, a group of partisan fighters are guarding the rear of a line of Yugoslav guerilla troops. When they reach the Sutjeska Gorges they are cut off from their support base, with their backs against a wall. Their supplies are almost gone and they can either remain where they are and eventually die of hunger or, outnumbered and outgunned, they can launch their own attack against the massive German army. Among them is a young pregnant woman, lending an even more tragic note to their plight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Strictly for the local audiences, this home-grown comedy by Yugoslav director Milo Dunkanovic plays upon one of the problems common to several crowded cities of the world -- the difficulty of finding any housing at all. Apparently this is a critical issue in Yugoslavia because the setting for this fanciful tale is an apartment that is home to a few extended families -- a place that would have been meant for only one, normal family. One of the married men has an entertaining dream related to the issue which provides an opportunity to expand on the situation. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Based on a Anton Chekhov short story, this slight tale has some good moments as the drama of a young boy's journey unfolds. The lad comes from peasant stock, and one day his family decides it would be best for him to go live with his uncle in the city. The only problem is that the city is all the way across the Russian steppes, and at this time in history, that arduous journey could only be undertaken by horse and carriage. Reminiscent of the American pioneer wagon trains heading West, the tale lacks any attacks from hostile forces but is filled with charming vignettes. In one part of the journey, the boy comes across some fishermen along a river, harpooning their catch for the day. In another segment, he is entertained when some folk dancers do a lively show. But in general, it is too long and unmomentous a journey to hold attention well for nearly two hours. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This violent melodrama finds emigrant workers falling victim to corrupt contractors and unfair labor practices. In order to get money from his father, a man pretends to be married to a woman he picks up on the road. The workers soon discover a dishonest dealer is swindling them by pocketing their wages. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The inhabitants of a Yugoslav village are rounded up by the Nazis for their sadistic pleasures. They have all the cloth in town dyed as to upset the burial process that requires a certain shade of fabric to conduct the ceremony properly. A local man who dyes the cloth for the ceremonies is denied the fabric for his own son's burial after he is killed. The Germans fire at will at people for target practice and prey sexually on defenseless victims in this disturbing slice of World War II realism. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Serbian and Mohammedan villages engage in a war with each other as religious and cultural differences result in conflict. The two groups set aside their dispute and unite to fight the invading Nazis. A Serbian Commissar works tirelessly to mediate the conflict, but it is not until he saves the life of a Moslem soldier that favorable compromise is reached. The groups concentrate on driving away the enemy before going back to their own long-running feud in this dramatic war feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This Yugoslavian film, by Macedonian filmmaker Cenevski, explores the fate of partisans relegated to Greek concentration camps after the Greek Civil War in 1946. Basically, those imprisoned were accused of being communists, and they included in their number some Greek-speaking Macedonians. Even though many were accused of being communists, and many in fact were communists, one of the ironic truths of these situations is that their lives depended on avoiding any admission of this fact. Prisoners in these camps were treated brutally. This story focuses on the endurance and possible survival of a bald, brave peasant. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This strident Yugoslavian/Italian film is a very uneven adaptation of a small portion of the famous and much-loved whimsical novel The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulghakov. It attempts to deal only with the Moscow portion of the novel. Even so, it was a brave attempt to film the unfilmable, and uses animation and other techniques to portray the more fantastic aspects of the story. In the film, which lovingly recreates the Moscow of the 1920s, the Master (Ugo Tognazzi) is a playwright. He is attending the dress rehearsal for his play, which is being performed over the objections of everyone involved, except for his girlfriend Margarita (Mimsy Farmer) and Professor Woland (Alain Cluny). He grows frantic when he discovers that the Professor is actually the Devil (the actual supernatural being, not just a very bad man). The Master tries to warn people but is committed to an insane asylum for his pains. At the play's premiere, the Professor uses his magical powers to add terrifying special effects which send the audiences screaming out of the theater. The film makes many guarded references to the persecution (past and present) of artists under communism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In the Middle Ages, the conditions endured by peasants and serfs were in some ways worse than those endured by slaves, and periodically there were peasant uprisings. Very few of these were even slightly successful. This Yugoslav film chronicles such an uprising in Croatia and Slovenia in 1573, under the leadership of Matija Gubec. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Partisans battle Chetniks in World War II Yugoslavia in this film which illuminates the characters of individuals on both sides of the conflict more than is usual. In the story, the group of partisans being followed is slowly decimated by their conflicts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This is an uneven and slow-paced drama with a good performance by lead Slobodan Perovic as a lonely, arrogant doctor. The doctor lives in a Russian village far off the beaten path of civilization. He prefers hanging out by himself in his home, in his office, or on the way to either place. He also takes pensive strolls through the nearby woods. Sometimes a little girl goes with him on the nature treks, but otherwise the doctor is left to his own thoughts, without companionship. The upshot is that his life is pretty boring. Then he meets a political prisoner in a mental institution and as they converse, the doctor begins to have serious doubts about the kind of life he has been living. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide