Yugoslav cinema depicted Second World War mainly through its specific subgenre of Partisan films. However, Balkan Express, 1983 black comedy directed by Branko Baletić, one of the most popular films to deal with the same subject, could be described as Partisan film only in broadest possible terms or not as Partisan film at all.
Main reason for that is in the main characters who hardly fit into ideological parameters of the subgenre originally introduced to celebrate heroic creation of Communist Yugoslavia. At the beginning of the film we are introduced to small band of petty thieves and con men - “Popeye” (played by Dragan Nikolić), his friend Pik (played by Bora Todorović) and beautiful singer Lili (played by Tanja Bošković), who is also girlfriend of Stojčić (played by Velimir “Bata” Živojinović), their leader. Their lives, like anyone else’s, are disrupted in April 1941 when Axis Powers invade Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In ensuing chaos they get separated from Stojčić and try to make end’s meet in Serbia which fell under German occupation. Lili offers Popeye and Pik shelter at home of her aunt (played by Olivera Marković), former singer who runs a bar at the river. Unlike Lili, who improves her situation by seducing Captain Diettrich (played by Radko Polič), one of German officers, Popeye and Pik are anxious over increasing likelihood of being taken for hostages or sent to forced labour in Germany. They want to obtain passes to leave town, but one of such schemes backfires spectacularly after which they are widely perceived as collaborators by local population. They try to rectify that by getting in touch with resistance movement and volunteering to hide Lea (played by Hajdana Baletić), little Jewish girl.
Balkan Express was made with relatively low budget. Its main asset is the script by experienced writer Gordan Mihić who tries, and for the most part, succeeds to create memorable characters that evoke audience’s sympathy despite their morally questionable actions. There is a lot of humour in the film, although Mihić at times add serious dramatic material to the mix, trying to remain faithful to dark realities of WW2. Those includes scenes of executions and Jews being transported to extermination camps and the bloody action-packed finale is in many ways at the odds what was supposed to be a comedy. Cast, which includes some of the greatest names of Serbian and Yugoslav cinema, is up to the task. Dragan Nikolić who plays roguish anti-hero with hidden heart of gold, has delivered one of the most popular roles of his career. Unlike prolific and iconic Bata Živojinović, who appears only briefly as gang’s leader, Olivera Marković and Bora Todorović also have memorable roles. But their roles are overshadowed by Tanja Bošković, who was at the time one of the sex symbols of Yugoslav cinema; here she plays femme fatale very much modelled under characters played by Rita Hayworth in Classic Hollywood films and her music numbers are quite impressive. Slovenian actor Radko Polič is very effective in the role of German officer who gets manipulated until the very end.
Music plays very important role in the film, and not only because the characters use cover of a travelling band. Talented composer Zoran Simjanović has wrote a likeable theme in the style of 1940s Swing bands and this in many ways makes the film upbeat despite its bleak period setting. He also composed some of songs, including the one sung by Tanja Bošković to great effect before the dramatic end. Like some Yugoslav films at the time, Balkan Express also tried to improve its commercial appeal by featuring popular musicians. In this case, it is legendary Toma Zdravković who appears as Slavuj, one of the singers at the restaurant. His role is relatively small, but unlike his superb musical performance, still leaves room to show his lack of proper acting abilities in the scene when his characters refuse to indulge Germans by singing “Lili Marleen”. Another major flaw in the film is editing and drift into sentimentality during the scenes when Popeye befriends Lea. Their relationship isn’t properly portrayed because of poor editing; like many Yugoslav films at the time Balkan Express was simultaneously made as television miniseries, with its feature film version lacking some explanatory scenes. Despite those flaws, Balkan Express was successful enough to inspire popular comic book series authored by Branislav Kerac, as well as 1989 sequel Balkan Express 2 which featured partially new cast.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/54649-balkan-ekspres Critic: AA
