Full moon over Belgrade is one of the few "forgotten movies" which had the sad fate to be released in Serbia during the war in Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (91-95) and therefore had almost no life after the release (in this case, somewhat for it's anti-war tone as well). It was later released on VHS, but was quickly forgotten and soon became a sort of rarity to find.
Plot:
The year is 1991. The war just broke out and the state is conducting full-out mobilization (of mostly young man). Anyone who doesn't answer the draft is hunt down mercilessly by the Military Police (MP) and if found, sent to the front-line of the war. Aleksa (Dragan Bjelogrlic) lives in Belgrade and is one of many young man that has the threat of draft, hanging over his head. He is a student of Slavic literature and works as a writer in the local magazine that deals with occult and paranormal news (fake or real). He has also applied himself for an English scholarship abroad, so he can get away from the drafting and a dark future he sees for himself. His family and (ex)girlfriend give him no support of any kind. After one of his friends and co-workers, Milorad (Slobodan Ninkovic), is brought back from the front in sheet metal casket, without a drop of blood in his body, another Aleksa's friend and co-worker Djordje (Nebojsa Bakocevic) advises him to ask for a night shift from his editor. MP usually brings draft orders at night, when most draftees are still asleep in their homes, so if Aleksa is on the job during that period, he should be safe. First night on the job Djordje introduces him with Mrs. Kosara (Ruzica Sokic), very dear old lady, who also works the night shift with them. Soon Djordje turns missing and Aleksa is led to believe by Mrs. Kosara that Djordje was taken by the MP from the office. She offers him shelter during the nights at her house, but he politely refuses. Next morning he himself barely avoids being taken by the MP from his apartment. After his ex-girlfriend refuses to shelter him during the night because she found new (tough guy) boyfriend, he decides to accept Mrs. Kosara's offer. In her house he finds an incredible collection of rare books of famous authors (Serbian and foreign) that no one but authors themselves ever saw or even knew they existed. He gladly accepts Mrs. Kosara's offer to catalog the whole collection. After few hours of work he goes to sleep and gets visited in his dream by Milorad with a confusing but deadly warning about the old lady.
Plot ends
This is an excellent and unique blend of political satire, noir and horror. Director was one of the finest Serbian directors, Dragan Kresoja who had ideal aesthetic vision throughout the movie, which he used to successfully capture "The Unbearable heaviness of Being" from those times. Dark, depressive, blend days in the movie represent dire reality, while the nights are like a bad dream with strong noirish feel.
Characters surrounding Aleksa represent the society through (real) stereotypes. They are either passive, empty, crazed, lost or simply selfish and none of them seem very disturbed by the fact that Aleksa's life is in danger (for example unsporting family and ex-girlfriend). Not to mention the two MPs, as cynical, sarcastic and ruthless as they come, who do their job with extreme enjoyment and care for no one and nothing.
Few characters that do show some good will usually do it for their own benefit. Aleksa's boss ("Sailes rose double 'cause the war. We gotta use this while it lasts".), the expelled priest, Two thugs, Mrs Kosara, and even Djordje's mother, stricken by her sons departure to front, shows certain "Mrs. Robinson" affection, when offering Aleksa a place to stay.
Aleksa and his friends are left with every man for himself policy, on the crossroad between bad and worse.
-SPOILER-
If you don't like downbeat endings, avoid this movie.
The tone of the plot represents the state of the country at the time, and it goes from desperate to hopeless, until the very end, when the viewer is fooled with an apparent full blown happy ending, just for the situation to go right back into full blown hopelessness few moments later.
The ending scene in the movie when Aleksa is looking at all the people he met and knew, makes perfect satirical point on who the true vampires in reality are, and that country itself (at the time) was feeding on the blood of it's youth, while people just sat through it, couldn't see, ignored, couldn't watch, or support it, becoming vampires themselves.
-SPOILERS END-
Music for the movie was done by famous Serbian rock group "Piloti" (The Pilots). The whole bend has a cameo appearance as themselves. They also make an appearance as lighthearted bums in the beginning and towards the end of the movie. The song they made for the movie is excellent and fittingly spooky. It's a ballade called "Kao Da Je Mesec Stao Samo Za Nas Dvoje" (As the Moon stopped just for the two of us).
There's a few very interesting characters in minor roles, like excellent Rade Markovic as mysterious Alimpije, Mrs. Kosara's husband, Predrag Ejdus as (The) Gogolj and Mica Tomic as Aleksa's grandfather who has almost none line in the whole movie.
An excellent peace of cinematography and continuation of socially conscious, yet imaginative Serbian movies in writing and directing, like The Black Bomber before it (also with Dragan Bjelogrlic) that were made by a hopeful young new filmmakers in the nineties. This streak of movies unfortunately ended shortly after the war itself, when they grew apart.
See it (if you can find it).
8/10.
Plot:
The year is 1991. The war just broke out and the state is conducting full-out mobilization (of mostly young man). Anyone who doesn't answer the draft is hunt down mercilessly by the Military Police (MP) and if found, sent to the front-line of the war. Aleksa (Dragan Bjelogrlic) lives in Belgrade and is one of many young man that has the threat of draft, hanging over his head. He is a student of Slavic literature and works as a writer in the local magazine that deals with occult and paranormal news (fake or real). He has also applied himself for an English scholarship abroad, so he can get away from the drafting and a dark future he sees for himself. His family and (ex)girlfriend give him no support of any kind. After one of his friends and co-workers, Milorad (Slobodan Ninkovic), is brought back from the front in sheet metal casket, without a drop of blood in his body, another Aleksa's friend and co-worker Djordje (Nebojsa Bakocevic) advises him to ask for a night shift from his editor. MP usually brings draft orders at night, when most draftees are still asleep in their homes, so if Aleksa is on the job during that period, he should be safe. First night on the job Djordje introduces him with Mrs. Kosara (Ruzica Sokic), very dear old lady, who also works the night shift with them. Soon Djordje turns missing and Aleksa is led to believe by Mrs. Kosara that Djordje was taken by the MP from the office. She offers him shelter during the nights at her house, but he politely refuses. Next morning he himself barely avoids being taken by the MP from his apartment. After his ex-girlfriend refuses to shelter him during the night because she found new (tough guy) boyfriend, he decides to accept Mrs. Kosara's offer. In her house he finds an incredible collection of rare books of famous authors (Serbian and foreign) that no one but authors themselves ever saw or even knew they existed. He gladly accepts Mrs. Kosara's offer to catalog the whole collection. After few hours of work he goes to sleep and gets visited in his dream by Milorad with a confusing but deadly warning about the old lady.
Plot ends
This is an excellent and unique blend of political satire, noir and horror. Director was one of the finest Serbian directors, Dragan Kresoja who had ideal aesthetic vision throughout the movie, which he used to successfully capture "The Unbearable heaviness of Being" from those times. Dark, depressive, blend days in the movie represent dire reality, while the nights are like a bad dream with strong noirish feel.
Characters surrounding Aleksa represent the society through (real) stereotypes. They are either passive, empty, crazed, lost or simply selfish and none of them seem very disturbed by the fact that Aleksa's life is in danger (for example unsporting family and ex-girlfriend). Not to mention the two MPs, as cynical, sarcastic and ruthless as they come, who do their job with extreme enjoyment and care for no one and nothing.
Few characters that do show some good will usually do it for their own benefit. Aleksa's boss ("Sailes rose double 'cause the war. We gotta use this while it lasts".), the expelled priest, Two thugs, Mrs Kosara, and even Djordje's mother, stricken by her sons departure to front, shows certain "Mrs. Robinson" affection, when offering Aleksa a place to stay.
Aleksa and his friends are left with every man for himself policy, on the crossroad between bad and worse.
-SPOILER-
If you don't like downbeat endings, avoid this movie.
The tone of the plot represents the state of the country at the time, and it goes from desperate to hopeless, until the very end, when the viewer is fooled with an apparent full blown happy ending, just for the situation to go right back into full blown hopelessness few moments later.
The ending scene in the movie when Aleksa is looking at all the people he met and knew, makes perfect satirical point on who the true vampires in reality are, and that country itself (at the time) was feeding on the blood of it's youth, while people just sat through it, couldn't see, ignored, couldn't watch, or support it, becoming vampires themselves.
-SPOILERS END-
Music for the movie was done by famous Serbian rock group "Piloti" (The Pilots). The whole bend has a cameo appearance as themselves. They also make an appearance as lighthearted bums in the beginning and towards the end of the movie. The song they made for the movie is excellent and fittingly spooky. It's a ballade called "Kao Da Je Mesec Stao Samo Za Nas Dvoje" (As the Moon stopped just for the two of us).
There's a few very interesting characters in minor roles, like excellent Rade Markovic as mysterious Alimpije, Mrs. Kosara's husband, Predrag Ejdus as (The) Gogolj and Mica Tomic as Aleksa's grandfather who has almost none line in the whole movie.
An excellent peace of cinematography and continuation of socially conscious, yet imaginative Serbian movies in writing and directing, like The Black Bomber before it (also with Dragan Bjelogrlic) that were made by a hopeful young new filmmakers in the nineties. This streak of movies unfortunately ended shortly after the war itself, when they grew apart.
See it (if you can find it).
8/10.
