1969 Yugoslav-German-Italian-American film "Battle of Neretva", directed by Veljko Bulajić, was shown last week in prime time on Croatian national television (HRT), and it reached higher ratings than the UEFA Champions League soccer on other television channels. Battle of Neretva was seen by 16 percent of viewers, while Juventus-Bayern match scored 10,7 percent. (E-novine)
Battle of Neretva was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969. This film is the most expensive motion picture made in the SFR Yugoslavia, starring Yul Brynner, Orson Welles, Sergei Bondarchuk, Curt Jurgens and Franco Nero, among the international crew. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the year after Sergei Bondarchuk (playing the role of Martin in Neretva) won the honour for War and Peace. The English language version features a powerful score by American composer Bernard Herrmann. One of the original posters for the English version of the movie was made by Pablo Picasso, which according to Bulajić he did without payment, only requesting a case of best Yugoslav wines. (Wikipedia)
The Battle of the Neretva (Serbo-Croatian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bitka na Neretvi), codenamed Fall Weiss, was a German strategic plan for a combined Axis attack launched in early 1943 against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War. The offensive took place between January and April 1943. It is named after the nearby river, the Neretva. The operation is generally known as the Fourth anti-Partisan Offensive, while it is also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive (Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva) or the Battle for the Wounded (Bitka za ranjenike) in ex-Yugoslav sources. (Wikipedia)
I watched the film on HRT last week, while I was running a slight fever from a flu, and, although I watched it before, this time it was different! Perhaps it was some psychedelic side effect of Paracetamol, but it was very clear, direct, almost immediate! It was a normal analog signal, but the image was very sharp. Combined with the very direct and short dialogues of a war movie, it produced a great "reminder" and directed the viewers' attention to the human plain of the battle for the wounded partisans. High viewer ratings also indicate that a sharp and energy-laden broadcast of a visual monument and mediated reminder, that this film most definitely is, can easily cast the shadow on the mass produced entertainment event such as soccer. Croatian viewers, usually in a strong soccer frenzy, are a an excellent example.
Yul Brynner was and still is my favorite in the film:
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