‘On Neretva in occupied Europe, we have
fought one of the most famous and most human battles – battle for saving the
wounded. The fate of the revolution was at stake, and here the brotherhood and
unity of our nations won’.[1]
In the
beginning of 1943 Hitler ordered the destruction of the free Partisan Republic
of Yugoslavia. The
German high command had become concerned about the possibility of an Allied
landing in the Balkans. This was of particular concern due to the substantial
resources they were extracting from Yugoslavia, including timber and copper. In
the event of an Allied landing, resistance forces in Yugoslavia would be likely
to interfere with German defensive operations as well as continued resource
extraction. Hitler’s
orders were to take no prisoners sparing neither the women nor children. The
partisans and thousands of refugees, including the wounded and these sick with
typhoid, left the city’s behind and begin a hazardous trek northward to the
Bosnian Mountains. Their goal was to cross the treacherous Neretva gorge over
the only bridge in an attempt to get to safety. Their trip was fraught with
danger having to face German tanks and air force, Italian infantry, Chetnik
Cavalry, disease and the natural elements. This mammoth exodus was an attempt
to move a nation and its culture to beyond the iron grip of Germany and their
allies and on to safety. Those that refused or could not join this gigantic migration
were hung or shoot by the multinational force that was close on the heels of Tito’s
brave partisans and his people.
Picasso's Film poster. |
Based on a
true story of WW2 that depicts the historically correct patriotic battles
between the Yugoslavians and the combined enemy axis.[2] The first class cinematic depictions
of this epic cross country flight and final battle was the most expensive
motion picture ever made in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and
the seventh most expensive non-English movie ever produced. The budget for the
extras alone would, I imagine, be able to finance a small modern day
production! The movie has some familiar faces that European audiences will
recognise including Yul Brynner as Viado the man in charge of the Engineers
that booby trapped the roads and blow up the giant railway bridge over the
Neretva River in Jablanica. A bridge that was actually blown up, rebuilt and
blown up again but because of the excessive smoke coursed by the explosion the
footage was never used, instead the scenes of the bridge being blown up that
eventually ended up in the movie were shot using a small scale table size
replica at a sound stage in Prague. We also have Orson Welles as the Senator in
charge of the Chetnik’s, Curd Jürgen’s as General Lohring leader of the German
High Command, Hardy Kruger as Colonel Kranzer head of the German ground forces
and Franco Nero as Captain Michele Riva the Italian commander who deserts and
joins the Partisans because of his hatred of the fascist regime. But the real
stars of the film are the Yugoslavian and East European actors like the beautiful
Sylva Koscina,[3]
Segey Bandachuk, Lyubisa Sanadzic and Boris Dvornik, names that that you will
not be quite so familiar with, but who make this movie totally convincing.
The Croatian
film director Veljko Bulajic who also wrote the screenplay directed the movie.[4] He is best known for
directing state sponsored Yugoslav WW2 themed Partisan films and you can see
why. The authentic battle scenes where the male and female partisans fight side
by side must rank as some of the best ever filmed and certainly compare with modern
WW2 films. I’m not always sure that the subtitles always allowed you to
understand the subtleties of the story and the DVD transfer is a little lacking
but this does not detract from a film that shows what state sponsorship of the
film industry can produce. Watching the film you can’t help but wonder how man
can do these things to each other?
See also Cinema
Komunisto for further information on the Yugoslavian film industry.
[1] Marshal Josip Broz Tito President of
Yugoslavia 1953-1980
[2] Pablo Picasso created the poster for the
film.
[3] Her English film debut was in 1964 when she
co-starred along side Dirk Bogarde in the comedy Hot Enough for June.
[4] The film was nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
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