Bure baruta (1998)

Random Belgrade citizens interact with each other in a night full of crime, frustration, betrayal and revenge.

Director:

Goran Paskaljevic

Writers:

Dejan Dukovski (play), Dejan Dukovski

Stars:

Mira Banjac, Ivan Bekjarev, Aleksandar Bercek

7 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mira Banjac	...	The Bosnian Serb Mother
Ivan Bekjarev	...	The Man on the Bus Who Thinks He's Tough
Aleksandar Bercek	...	Dimitri, the Crippled Ex-Cop from the Local Cafe
Vojislav 'Voja' Brajovic	...	Topi, the Ex-Student Revolutionary Trafficker (as Vojislav Brajovic)
Azra Cengic	...	The Wife of the Bus Man Who Thinks He's Tough
Bogdan Diklic	...	John, the VW Driver
Milena Dravic	...	The Lady on the Bus with the Hat and Fox Stole
Nebojsa Glogovac	...	The Chain-Smoking Taxi Driver
Mirjana Jokovic	...	Ana, the 'Flirt' on the Bus, George's Girlfriend
Dragan Jovanovic	...	Kosta, the Man with the Oar, Natalia's New Boyfriend
Mirjana Karanovic	...	Natalia, Mane's Ex-Fiancee
Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic	...	Mane (Michael), the Homecoming Man (as Predrag-Miki Manojlovic)
Toni Mihajlovski	...	George, the Eternal Culprit, Ana's Boyfriend
Nebojsa Milovanovic	...	The Bosnian Serb Son Who Doesn't Want to End Up Like His Father
Dragan Nikolic	...	John's Boxer Friend

Storyline

In Beograd, mid-1990s, 20 people's paths crisscross one night in rage and theater. A callow youth dents a car; its owner hunts him down and trashes his father's flat. Michael, back from abroad, hopes to reclaim Natalia; her new, younger lover seems outclassed. A Bosnian drives a bus to eke out subsistence; his son works the Black Market for a sadist. A cabby buys drinks for a cop he crippled in revenge. Swarthy friends at a gym confess betrayals of each other; violence erupts, then one menaces a woman on a train. Another young woman, traumatized when a knife-wielding youth commandeers her bus, calls for help and ends up with a gun at her head. It's a cabaret macabre.

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Plot Keywords:

serbia | bus passenger | hoodlum | bus | based on play | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence including an act of sexual assault, strong language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount Classics

Country:

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia France Greece Turkey

Language:

Serbian

Release Date:

1 August 1998 (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Also Known As:

The Powder Keg

Filming Locations:

Belgrade, Serbia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,774, 25 July 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$108,103, 17 October 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal (II),Eurimages,Gradski Kina

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed entirely at night.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Mickey Blue Eyes/The Adventures of Sebastian Cole/The Muse/Teaching Mrs. Tingle/Cabaret Balkan (1999)

User Reviews

A shriek of anger from Belgrade

"Cabaret Balkan" comes at you like fangs on a snapping Doberman with is finely tuned and well crafted display of anger. An apparent cry of despair for the current social, economic, and political state of the Balkans, an open and festering wound on the face of the world, "Cabaret Balkan" actually shows little violence and almost no gore. What is does show is nonstop rage. A "Magnolia-esque" format with numerous characters in unrelated situations in lieu of a homogenous story, "Cabaret Balkan" trades plot for purpose and substance for effect. However, its sheer drama, the power of its performances, and the superb acting by a relatively unknown cast make this film pound-for-pound and dollar-for-dollar more powerful, gripping, and compelling than anything to come out of Hollywood in recent years.