Who's Singin' Over There? (1980)
"Ko to tamo peva" (original title)

It's April 5, 1941, somewhere in Serbia. A group of people go on a bus to Belgrade...

Director:

Slobodan Sijan

Writer:

Dusan Kovacevic

Stars:

Pavle Vujisic, Dragan Nikolic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pavle Vujisic	...	Kondukter
Dragan Nikolic	...	Pevac
Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic	...	Brka (as Danilo Stojkovic)
Aleksandar Bercek	...	Misko Krstic
Neda Arneric	...	Mlada
Milivoje Tomic	...	Aleksa Simic
Tasko Nacic	...	Lovac
Boro Stjepanovic	...	Celavi (as Borislav Stjepanovic)
Slavko Stimac	...	Mladozenja
Miodrag Kostic	...	Muzikant I
Nenad Kostic	...	Muzikant II
Bora Todorovic	...	Ozalosceni
Slobodan Aligrudic	...	Porucnik
Petar Lupa	...	Pop
Stanojlo Milinkovic	...	Orac

Storyline

On April 5, 1941, a date Serbs will recognize, men on a country road board Krstic's bus for Belgrade: two Gypsies who occasionally sing about misery, an aging war vet, a Nazi sympathizer, a dapper singer, a consumptive, and a man with a shotgun. Krstic is a world-weary cynic, out for a buck; the driver is his son, the simple, cheerful Misko. En route they pick up a priest and young newlyweds going to the seaside. Along the way, mis-adventure strikes: a flat tire, a rickety bridge, a farmer who's plowed the road, a funeral, two feuding families, an army detail, and a lost wallet slow the bus and expose rifts among the travelers. On April 6, amid rumors of war, they reach Belgrade...

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Plot Keywords:

belgrade | bus | gypsy | world war two | black comedy

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

1 January 1980 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

Who Sings Over There

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centar Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

[mild spoiler warning] The final bombing scene was originally meant to include wild animals from the bombed zoo roaming through the city, which indeed happened; in fact, the old newspapers article about this event was one of inspirations for the author Dusan Kovacevic. Unfortunately, at the time that the movie was being shot Tito, the long time president of communist era Yugoslavia, died which resulted in the extended mourning period that effectively canceled all entertainment activities in the country - including the circus tour that was meant to provide the animals for the scene. Since working with untrained animals from a zoo was deemed too dangerous, the authors reluctantly had to abandon the idea at the time. However, the idea was used in the opening scene of Underground, some 15 years later.

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Goofs

The bus that makes the center point of the film is a Mercedes-Benz O3500, which did not enter the production until 1949, eight years after the events in film take place.

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Connections

References Stagecoach (1939)

User Reviews

A bus trip can be funny... very funny! - Masterpiece of the road trip movies.

This "tragicomedy" written by famous Serbian theatre/film writer Dusan Kovacevic is probably one of the best movies ever made in the comedy category. And yet, its appearance of a theatre play transformed into a feature film takes nothing of its value. A masterpiece one should not miss to see (preferably with subtitles, and not dubbed).

In an aged bus en route to capital Belgrade, a looming war decides the passengers' behaviour. Two Gypsy musicians sing of their miserable life but also foresee a tragedy to come; their singing both divides and connects stages in this extraordinary road movie (real life Kostic brothers are amateur actors, but together with Stanojlo Milinkovic as farmer who's plowed the road give a real-life performance).

The spectrum of characters gives a brilliant image of a society facing a war, an insight into nation's collective person: everyone is aware that war is just about to begin but they try to live their own lives the best they can, hoping that ignorance might avert the tragedy. Using a simple movie language, director Slobodan Sijan paints a picture of society torn by previous war (World War I), but also highlights personal portraits with success: provincialism of a singer, inexperience of the newlyweds, seriousness of the Great War veteran who is on way to visit his recently conscripted son, and gloomy predictions from a man who seems to be a German spy.

Brilliant in its narration, with memorable soundtrack (especialy the Gispsy songs) and adjusted atmosphere, well photographed and edited, this feature (Sijan's feature debut) was only an introduction into a series of the directors bitter-sweet comedies that will define Serbian cinematography of the 1980s: "Maratonci trce pocasni krug", "Kako sam sistematski unisten od idiota", and my other director's favourite "Davitelj protiv davitelja").