Kako je propao rokenrol (1989)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Directors:

Goran Gajic
Zoran Pezo

Writers:

Aleksandar Barisic (segment)
Biljana Pajkic (segment)

Release Date:

7 May 1989 (Serbia)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Party | Ninja

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Nebojsa Bakocevic	...	Darko
Predrag Bjelac		(as Pedja Bjelac)
Dragan Bjelogrlic	...	Policeman
Branimir Brstina	...	Srdjan Hadzi-Karic
Kosta Bunusevac
Goran Cavajda
Bogdan Diklic	...	Slobodan
Branko Djuric	...	Djura Veselinovic (as Branko Djuric Djuro)
Anica Dobra	...	Barbara
Jelena Ivanisevic
Dusan Kojic	...	Green Tooth
Petar Kralj
Milorad Mandic
Branislav-Ciga Milenkovic
Zika Milenkovic	...	Mitar
Slobodan Ninkovic	...	Policeman
Mihajlo-Bata Paskaljevic
Stanislava Pesic
Nenad Rackovic
Sonja Savic	...	Bojana
Ratko Tankosic	...	Zika
Srdjan Todorovic	...	Koma
Vesna Trivalic	...	Eva Veselinovic
Mirjana Vukojicic
Velimir 'Bata' Zivojinovic	...	Krsta Klatic-Klaja

Also Known As:

The Fall of Rock and Roll

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Avala Film

Movie Connections:

Features Christine (1983)

Great fun...

Back in the 1980s rock'n'roll and movies frequently overlapped in Serbia, and it's a joint effort of this kind that gave birth to "Kako je propao rokenrol". Other similar colaborations gave us 1981's "Decko koji obecava" and to a lesser extent "Davitelj protiv davitelja", both also quality movies.

This film consists of 3 independent stories tied together by a Master of Ceremonies of sorts named Green Tooth (famous Belgrade musician and personality Dusan 'Koja' Kojic's alter ego) who appears at the beginning of each one. They all tell tales of Belgrade's cynical teenagers and young adults living their mostly urbane and hip existences, centered around making music or in certain cases merely looking different and acting against the norm. However, the problems they're forced to deal with are more earthly in nature and they include:

- finding a catchy hook to sell avantgarde underground music to a populous that prefers folk,

- paying the rent and getting your life together before your wife gives birth

or in case of the guy from 2nd story

- simply getting a girl to put out without any commitment expectations, etc...

Movie was made as kind of a showcase for young Serbian and Yugoslav writers and directors coming up in the late 1980s, who contributed these stories in hopes of getting their names and work more exposure. And while their talents were certainly shown in good light here, none of them, unfortunately, went on to notable careers in film making.

All 3 stories have plenty of charm, wit and good dialogue to merit a strong recommendation. Combining two generations of Serbian actors as kind of on-screen adversaries competing for bragging rights also works very well and it's fabulous to watch as an underlying dynamic.

Great music too, courtesy of a Belgrade band 'Elektricni orgazam'.