Cabaret Balkan (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:

Aleksandar Bercek, Vojislav 'Voja' Brajovic, Bogdan Diklic

7 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aleksandar Bercek	...	Dimitri, the Crippled Ex-Cop from the Local Cafe
Vojislav 'Voja' Brajovic	...	Topi, the Ex-Student Revolutionary Trafficker (as Vojislav Brajovic)
Bogdan Diklic	...	John, the VW Driver
Nebojsa Glogovac	...	The Chain-Smoking Taxi Driver
Mirjana Jokovic	...	Ana, the 'Flirt' on the Bus, George's Girlfriend
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
Lazar Ristovski	...	The Boxer Who Takes the Train
Nikola Ristanovski	...	Boris, the Esoteric Cabaret Artist
Ana Sofrenovic	...	The Desperate Young Woman on the Train
Sergej Trifunovic	...	The Young Man Chewing Gum Who Takes the Bus Hostage
Mira Banjac	...	The Bosnian Serb Mother

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

Gross USA:

$108,103

Company Credits

Production Co:

MACT Productions, Ticket Productions, Vans

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 93543.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Mickey Blue Eyes/The Adventures of Sebastian Cole/The Muse/Teaching Mrs. Tingle/Cabaret Balkan (1999)

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Soundtracks

Divertimento D-dur II stav, Köchel 136
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Balkan madness.

There where at least twenty or more characters who took us through the streets of Belgrade in one crazy soul-searching period. Each character has a destiny to meet and each one affected by the Balkan States of political chaos. While the neighboring states continue to abuse the human condition, our symbolic characters are tearing at each other on the streets of Belgrade, in one form or another. Every character represents a state of nationality or the social mayhem drowning them. There is the two boxing buddies who turn on each other after revealing past truths, (the same as the peaceful neighbors of different nationalities who turn on one another when the war heated up). There is the Taxi driver who took revenge on a police officer, (the power of police enforcement riddles the country with corruption ). The man who returns back home to reclaim his lost love after a five year absence and a pocket full of money, (commenting on people who left the country to make their wealth overseas then coming back to buy their privileges). The young Bosnian Serb refuge who teams up with the underworld to make ends meet because it is the only way to survive in a hopeless situation, (commenting on the power of the underworld, taking control of restless and lost youths with no place to go). There are so many criss-cross factors that director Goran manages to inter-weave them all in a Robert Altman style. There are some tales that take the pleasure away from the more interesting small tales, but each one had to be told so as to cover the whole spectrum of the Balkan States in a sea of frenzy.