Battle of Neretva (film)

This article is about a Yugoslav film. For the historical battle on which the film was based, see Battle of the Neretva.

The Battle of Neretva
File:Battle Of Neretva Poster.jpg VHS cover
Directed by	Veljko Bulajić
Written by	Stevan Bulajić Veljko Bulajić
Produced by	Anthony B. Unger Henry T. Weinstein Steve Previn
Starring	Sergei Bondarchuk Yul Brynner Anthony Dawson Milena Dravić
Cinematography	Tomislav Pinter
Edited by	Vojislav Bjenjas Roberto Perpignani
Music by	Bernard Herrmann Vladimir Kraus-Rajteric
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release dates	October 7, 1969 February 25, 1971
Running time	175 min.
Country	Yugoslavia
Language	Serbo-Croatian/English
Budget	$71,015,000

Bridge on the Neretva river, repaired and twice-destroyed during the shooting of the film.

Battle of Neretva (Template:Lang-sh) is a 1969 Yugoslavian war film. The film was written by Stevan Bulajić and Veljko Bulajić, and directed by Veljko Bulajić. It is based on the true events of World War II. The Battle of the Neretva was due to a strategic plan for a combined Axis powers attack in 1943 against the Yugoslav Partisans. The plan was also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive and occurred in the area of the Neretva river in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Battle of Neretva is the most expensive motion picture made in the SFR Yugoslavia. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the year after Sergei Bondarchuk (playing the role of Martin in Neretva) won the honour for War and Peace. The English language version features a powerful score by American composer Bernard Herrmann.

One of the original posters for the English version of the movie was made by Pablo Picasso, which according to Bulajić he did without payment, only requesting a case of best Yugoslav wines.

Production

Battle of Neretva had a staggering budget approved personally by Yugoslav president Tito. Different sources put it anywhere between $4.5 million and $12 million. Global stars such as Sergei Bondarchuk, Yul Brynner, Franco Nero, Orson Welles, etc. flocked to communist Yugoslavia attracted by the huge sums of money being offered.

Shot over 16 months with funds put up in largest part by over 58 state companies in Yugoslavia, the movie featured a combined battalion of 10,000 actual Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) soldiers. Four villages and a fortress were especially constructed for the film, and subsequently destroyed. Countless tanks and armoured vehicles also met the same fate.

Additionally, an actual railway bridge over Neretva River in Jablanica was destroyed. Director Bulajić's justification for taking down an actual bridge rather than getting the shots in studio was that a destroyed bridge would later become a tourist attraction. The bridge was thus blown up, but because none of the footage was usable due to the billowing smoke that made it impossible to see anything, it was decided that the bridge should be repaired and destroyed again. However, the problem with the excessive smoke occurred even when the bridge was blown up for the second time. Finally, the scenes of the bridge being blown up that eventually ended up in the film were shot using a small scale table-size replica at a sound stage in Prague.

Main cast

• Kole Angelovski as Žika
• Stole Aranđelović as Šumadinac
• Sergei Bondarchuk as Martin
• Yul Brynner as Vlado
• Anthony Dawson as General Morelli
• Milena Dravić as Nada
• Boris Dvornik as Stipe
• Curt Jürgens as General Lorgins
• Sylva Koscina as Danica
• Hardy Krüger as Colonel Kranzer
• Franco Nero as Captain Michael Riva
• Howard Ross as Sgt. Mario
• Lojze Rozman as Ivan
• Ljubiša Samardžić as Novak
• Oleg Vidov as Nikola
• Orson Welles as Chetnik senator
• Bata Živojinović as Stole

See also

• List of Yugoslavian films
• List of most expensive non-English language films
• List of most expensive Yugoslav films

External links

• Bitka na Neretvi at IMDb
• The Battle of Neretva at AllMovie
• Razgovor s Veljkom Bulajićem Template:Hr icon