The Battle of Neretva (1969)

World war two drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.

Director:

Veljko Bulajic

Writers:

Stevan Bulajic (story), Ratko Djurovic (story)

Stars:

Yul Brynner, Hardy Krüger, Franco Nero

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yul Brynner	...	Vlado
Hardy Krüger	...	Kranzer
Franco Nero	...	Riva
Sylva Koscina	...	Danica
Orson Welles	...	Senator
Curd Jürgens	...	Lohring
Anthony Dawson	...	Morelli
Milena Dravic	...	Nada
Sergey Bondarchuk	...	Martin (as Sergej Bondarcuk)
Ljubisa Samardzic	...	Novak
Velimir 'Bata' Zivojinovic	...	Stole (as Bata Zivojinovic)
Boris Dvornik	...	Stipe
Oleg Vidov	...	Nikola
Pavle Vuisic	...	Sofer
Howard Ross	...	Mario (as Renato Rossini)

Storyline

Battle on Neretva known as the ''fourth offensive'' the most humane battle in World War II led by Yugoslav partisans. In January 1943 German army, afraid of Allied invasion of Balkans, launched great offensive against Yugoslav Partisans in Western Bosnia.They encircle the mountain and begin the mop up operation. Out gunned and outnumbered the partisans must not only take care of themselves but try to protect thousands of refugees too. Providing a heroic resistance, multiple superior enemy partisans advancing towards the only remaining bridge over the Neretva river, through which they intend to transfer himself and wounded at free territory. Therefore, all the shock decision of the Supreme Headquarters to demolish the bridge, but it is just as foolish ruse to weaken the enemy forces on the other side of the river. Movie Battle of Neretva is usually the most famous work by the Yugoslav film industry has produced.

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Plot Keywords:

partisan | battle | offensive | river | supreme headquarters | 

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Taglines:

Their courage carved its own monument in a special corner of hell!

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real Battle of the Neretva was a World War II battle launched by the Nazis and lasted from January and April 1943 in the environs of the River Neretva, Herzegovina, which at the time was part of German-occupied Yugoslavia. The battle was code-named Fall Weiss and was named after the neighboring Neretva River. The battle involved German and Italian troops, Croatian Ustasha (Revolutionary Movement) fighters and Chetnik (Serbian Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia) units in a joint operation to eliminate Yugoslav partisans (anti-Nazi and anti-fascist guerrilla fighters) from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. The battle is also known as the Fourth Anti-Partisan Offensive; the Fourth Enemy Offensive and The Battle for the Wounded.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Lohring: Keep this well in mind: any partisan you are tempted to spare will be glad to show you his gratitude for your sentimentality with a hand grenade or a couple of well aimed bullets.

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Crazy Credits

At the Neretva in occupied Europe, we fought one of the most celebrated and the most heroic battles for the wounded. Here was decided the fate of the Revolution. Here was victorious the brotherhood and unity of our peoples. Tito

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Alternate Versions

Several different video and DVD prints exist. In North America the film has been released at 106 minutes; a Spanish DVD runs 113 minutes; and most European PAL videos and the Australian video run 127 minutes. German and Croation video and DVD copies run 142 minutes each, although they are not the same print.

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Connections

Referenced in The Wounds (1998)

User Reviews

Battle of Neretva: a peek into a lost classic

It is sad that the most widely distributed version of this Yugoslavian war epic "Bitka na Neretvi" is the 102 minute version edited and dubbed in USA by Commonwealth United Films. This version, known as "The Battle of Neretva" has been shortened by a full hour. It looks a bit like a long trailer, offering samples of what is obviously a big scale, melodramatic giant of a film, like "The Longest Day". At times the re-editing looks like it has been made with an axe, some dialogue being cut from the middle of a sentence.

I have just seen, however, a longer Commonwealth version: 127 minutes, 25 minutes longer. This is a far superior version, professionally edited into a coherent, well flowing narrative. It seems that the 102 minute "stub" has been edited from this. I can only imagine how much deeper the characterization would be with the 40 minutes still missing from the original. The Italian and German versions are longer than this 127 minute version, and they have been released on DVD. Still, for anyone preferring an English translation, this could be the best version around. Sadly it only seems to be available on VHS.

Details

Official Sites:

Troma

Country:

Yugoslavia Italy West Germany USA

Language:

Serbo-Croatian German Italian English

Release Date:

7 October 1969 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

The Battle of the River Neretva

Filming Locations:

Jablanica na Neretvi, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Yugoslavia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bosna Film, Jadran Film, Kinema Sarajevo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

175 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1