This is a debut feature from Djordje Milosavljevic (known Serbian comic-book artist and script writer), and it's one kick-ass piece of work. This film noir is as stylish as it is bloody. Imagine a Yugoslav Tarantino, but with even more wit and intelligence than the American one. The basic story line goes something like this: Nemanya (the main character) is lost in the rain on his way to Belgrade and seeks shelter in a remote motel called "Wheels" (or "Tockovi" in Serbian) where he is forced to rub shoulders with a whole range of shady characters who could give the entire Pulp Fiction crew a run for their own money. Before he knows it, Nemanya is accused of a murder he didn't committ and has to fight his way out by the only remaining mean - a gun. What follows is an outrageously macabre and hilarious, set of sequences on the course of which an innocent Nemanya unwillingly turns into a brutal, professional killer, despite his continuous, and very ironic, lamentations that he is not a murderer, and that he is innocent. The parrallells to the happenings in the real-life Yugoslavia can also be made. What at first seems like a bunch of marry-go-lucky people having a few drinks in a motel while awaiting for the heavy rain to stop, turns into a nightmarish reality where everyone hates everyone else because each guest has a dark secret to hide. Similar thing happened in Yugoslavia, where the people who seemingly lived well together turned to violence as soon as the communist grip was loose. The movie even sports self-ironic references to the NATO campaign against Serbia. In any case, I don't want to reveal any more twists and turns of this rollercoaster thriller, except that I also enjoyed the film's cool, ethnic-tinged soundtrack. I have no idea whether "Wheels" found any distributors in the States because I saw it as a part of the "Freedom Film Festival 2000," but I really wish it did because this movie is superior even by Western standards. Even though it's in Serbian language, with the right promotion it would definitely appeal to a lot of people, for it is a REALLY-REALLY excellent work. Beg, borrow and steal to see this movie! It's that good.
