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	...	Dr. Grujic
Erland Josephson	...	Dr. Dragutin Kenigsmark
Dusica Zegarac	...	Dr. Markovic
Varja Djukic	...	Dr. Danka Uskokovic
Rade Markovic	...	Upravnik bolnice
Vladislava Milosavljevic	...	Sestra Slavica (as Vladica Milosavljevic)
Peter Carsten	...	Epidemiolog iz UN-a (as Peter Karsten)
Aleksandar Bercek	...	Magistar Jovanovic
Radmila Zivkovic	...	Sestra Zaga
Semka Sokolovic-Bertok	...	Dr. Ciric
Bogdan Diklic	...	Dusko
Velimir Zivotic	...	Sekretar za zdravstvo
Milo Miranovic	...	Lozac Mile
Dzemail Maksut	...	Halil Redzepi
Katica Zeli	...	Servirka

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...

---

Plot Keywords:

smallpox | epidemic | blood | albanian | disaster | 

---

Genres:

Drama | History | Horror

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

The identity of the UN epidemiologist (portrayed by Peter Carsten) is hidden under the all-body cover and face mask. The Carsten's voice, a native German speaker, was dubbed by another actor.

---

Goofs

In the scene where they are exhuming the first smallpox victim, one of the policemen is holding a local version of the AK (M70AB2). That did not see service with police until late '70s.

---

Connections

Featured in Serbia, Year Zero (2001)

User Reviews

Good film

This film will scare you. It's an unpretentious, yet very well made horror that builds a genuinely creepy mood and introduces us to likeable characters we really care about. I have seen it several times and I have found it enjoyable every single one of those times. The interesting thing is that the film is based on real events, but that is also a potential problem, because the filmmakers cared more about putting together an effective screenplay than remaining true to actual events. This is no docudrama, but a film that takes great liberties. However, they are justified, because the screenplay they ended up with was pretty much flawless. You won't forget this film.

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