Variola vera (1982)

This is a true story of the famous Variola epidemic outbreak in Belgrade.

Director:

Goran Markovic

Writers:

Goran Markovic, Milan Nikolic

Stars:

Rade Serbedzija, Erland Josephson, Dusica Zegarac

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rade Serbedzija	...	Doktor Grujic
Erland Josephson	...	Dr. Dragutin Kenigsmark
Dusica Zegarac	...	Doktorka Markovic
Varja Djukic	...	Doktorka Danka Uskokovic
Rade Markovic	...	Upravnik Cole
Vladislava Milosavljevic	...	Medicinska sestra Slavica (as Vladica Milosavljevic)
Peter Carsten	...	Epidemiolog iz UN-a (as Peter Karsten)
Aleksandar Bercek	...	Magistar Jovanovic
Radmila Zivkovic	...	Medicinska sestra Zaga
Semka Sokolovic-Bertok	...	Doktorka Ciric
Bogdan Diklic	...	Dusko
Velimir Zivotic	...	Sekretar za zdravstvo
Milo Miranovic	...	Lozac Mile
Dzemail Maksut	...	Halil Redzepi
Katica Zeli	...	Cistacica

Storyline

One pilgrim, infected with an unknown illness, enter the country. Relocated from place to place is dying, and disease spreads. The moment they realize that they are responsible for the disease was considered eradicated, but it is too late. An outbreak of smallpox begins to revive, leading to lure individuals and society. The infected are isolated and left to the logic of the terrible diseases which all but forgotten, considering the distant past...

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Plot Keywords:

epidemic | blood | albanian | disaster | smallpox | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Details

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

9 July 1982 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

A fekete himlő

Company Credits

Production Co:

Art Film 80, Croatia Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

After the opening sequence we see a three-engined Boeing 727 making its final approach to land at the Belgrade airport. In the very next shot, when the plane actually touches the ground, it's a two-engined DC-9.

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Connections

References Closely Watched Trains (1966)

User Reviews

A pilgrim from distant land is taken to the emergency hospital in Belgrade, Yugoslavia without knowing that he is a carrier of variola vera virus that will become one of the largest and last epidemics of thi

I saw this film many years ago and was stricken by its realism and power. My mother was one of the people who worked in the very hospital where the epidemics started. She survived the epidemics as her father did many years before she was born.

The maker of the film together with the whole crew created a masterpiece in its' for that time almost avantguarde genre.