Hey Babu Riba (1985)

In 1985, four middle-aged Yugoslav emigres return to Belgrade for the funeral of Mariana, their beautiful compatriot. They called her Esther, for Esther Williams, she was the coxswain for ... See full summary »

Director:

Jovan Acin

Writer:

Jovan Acin

Stars:

Gala Videnovic, Relja Basic, Nebojsa Bakocevic

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gala Videnovic	...	Mirjana 'Ester' Zivkovic
Relja Basic	...	Glenn
Nebojsa Bakocevic	...	Young Glenn
Marko Todorovic	...	Sasa
Dragan Bjelogrlic	...	Young Sasa
Milos Zutic	...	Kica
Srdjan 'Zika' Todorovic	...	Young Kica (as Srdjan Todorovic)
Djordje Nenadovic	...	Pop Popovic (as George Heston)
Goran Radakovic	...	Young Pop
Milan Strljic	...	Young Ristic
Dragomir Bojanic-Gidra	...	'Joe' Ristic (as Anthony Gidra)
Ljubisa Samardzic	...	Glenn's father
Ruzica Sokic	...	Kica's mother
Spela Rozin
Danica Maksimovic	...	Rada Svercerka (black market)

Storyline

In 1985, four middle-aged Yugoslav emigres return to Belgrade for the funeral of Mariana, their beautiful compatriot. They called her Esther, for Esther Williams, she was the coxswain for their four-man rowing team, and they each loved her. They'd last seen her in 1953, when they rowed her across the Adriatic, pregnant, to join her exiled father in Italy. In flashbacks we learn the story of their youthful baptism into sex, smoking, rock and roll (Hey Ba-ba-re-bop), Hollywood and Swedish films, blue jeans on the black market, and their rivalry with Ristic, the Communist Party youth leader for whom they had instant antipathy.

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Plot Keywords:

teen movie | female nudity | period piece | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Summer Interlude (1951)

User Reviews

just ignore the nonsensical title

Four old friends are reunited in their native Yugoslavia at the funeral of their childhood companion, a once vivacious young girl they each secretly adored and together helped escape to the West. Now middle aged and melancholy, and confronted again by the unresolved mysteries of their past, they recall the events that drew them together and cast them apart so many years earlier. The story is at once both romantic and perceptive, showing the personal and political traumas of growing up in the Balkans during the 1950s, but with a bittersweet glow of nostalgia underlining the end of innocence for characters and country alike. The understated grace of the film is perhaps best revealed at the moment when the young heroine is seduced by an unscrupulous Communist Party member (a rival of her four friends), whose twin tattoos of Stalin and Lenin appear to caress her flesh, striking just one of the many grace notes in an altogether memorable drama.

Details

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Release Date:

24 October 1985 (Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

Miriana

Box Office

Gross USA:

$141,423

Company Credits

Production Co:

CFS Avala Film, Centar Film, Esplendor

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color