The Marathon Family (1982)
"Maratonci trce pocasni krug" (original title)

The Topalovic family has been in the burial business for generations. When the old (150 yrs old) Pantelija dies, five generations of his heirs start to fight for the inheritance.

Director:

Slobodan Sijan

Writers:

Dusan Kovacevic (play), Dusan Kovacevic (screenplay)

Stars:

Bogdan Diklic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic, Pavle Vujisic

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bogdan Diklic	...	Mirko Topalovic
Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic	...	Laki Topalovic
Pavle Vujisic	...	Milutin Topalovic
Mija Aleksic	...	Aksentije Topalovic
Milivoje Tomic	...	Maksimilijan Topalovic
Radislav Lazarevic	...	Pantelija Topalovic
Zoran Radmilovic	...	Bili Piton
Jelisaveta Sablic	...	Kristina
Bora Todorovic	...	Djenka
Melita Bihali	...	Olja
Fahro Konjhodzic	...	Gospodin Rajkovic
Veljko Mandic	...	Rajkovicev brat
Mihajlo-Bata Paskaljevic	...	Stariji zandar
Dragoljub-Gula Milosavljevic	...	(as Dragoljub Milosavljevic)
Miroslav Jovanovic	...	Blizanac I

Storyline

The Topalovic family has been in the burial business for generations. When the old (150 yrs old) Pantelija dies, five generations of his heirs start to fight for the inheritance.

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Plot Keywords:

coffin | crematorium | cinema | murder | satire | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

1982 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

The Marathon Family

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centar Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Olja gives a bath to old Maksimilijan, him pulling her in the tub with him wasn't in the script. It was a prank that actor Mica Tomic pulled on his fellow actress Melita Bihali, and the director Slobodan Sijan (who knew about it beforehand) left it in the film.

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Goofs

The movie is set in the 1930s, but the 'tone film' that Djenka plays in his theater ("Prica jednog dana") was made in 1941. Tone films weren't made in Serbia until 1940s.

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Connections

References The Dawn Patrol (1930)

User Reviews

Unique, high up on the pedestal

There is a set of movies that leaves me absolutely speechless, actually to be more precise, unable to find superlatives to describe their true genius. It's the case of Wong Kar Wai's Fa Yeung Nin Wa or Ron Fricke's Baraka or Theo Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day. Those films have absolutely nothing in common as related to topic, genre or style yet they represent lonely peaks in a desert of movies that can not raise up to their stature. It's one of those movies that keeps you breathlessly clinged up to the end, and I am not talking about suspense. When it is over, you will exclaim: "I've never seen anything like it". Even viewed for the tenth time, "the marathon family" will produce a breeze of freshness, exquisite humour(that western people usually don't appreciate...) and astonishment. The metaphor reveals itself towards the end, in an accelerated rhythm - war between brothers and the fall of a nation, also lamented by Kusturica in Underground in a similar humourish yet bitter fashion. I give it a definite ten (10). Chapeau Bas!!!