Tri karte za Holivud (1993)

Director:

Bozidar 'Bota' Nikolic

Writer:

Zeljko Mijanovic (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Cast

Branislav Lecic	...	Gavrilo
Bogdan Diklic	...	Zivadin
Ljubisa Samardzic	...	Limijer
Neda Arneric	...	Natalija
Velimir 'Bata' Zivojinovic	...	Mrgud
Branislav Jerinic	...	Spasoje
Vesna Stanojevic	...	Ruza
Dragan Nikolic	...	Aldo
Slobodan Custic	...	Nikola
Vesna Cipcic	...	Uciteljica
Milutin Karadzic	...	Globus
Danilo Lazovic	...	Brica
Petar Banicevic	...	Timosenko
Dusan Janicijevic	...	Postar
Josif Tatic	...	Bosko

Runtime:

Yugoslavia:118 min

Country:

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Language:

Serbo-Croatian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Centar Film

Movie Connections:

Features Bathing Beauty (1944)

Loved it.

Another excellent comedy by Bozidar Nikolic, who made a name for himself in Serbian cinema (even though he's Montenegrin) after directing a 1984 classic "Balkanski spijun".

"Tri karte za Hollywood" takes place in a fictional small town of Gornje Polje (sort of Anytown, Serbia) during the time when eyes of the world were focused on Cuban missile crisis wondering if World War III is about to start. Further raising tensions among locals is the imminent visit of Marshal Tito who is due to pass through town on his famous Blue train.

In a place where everybody is consumed with politics, some are ardent Russophiles, while others are in awe of American lifestyle and yet others are oppurtunist, smalltimer drones looking for personal gains during this looming world political reshuffle. Overlooking them all is 'Narodna vlast' - Tito's communist regime embodied in police chief Gavrilo Milentijevic (Branislav Lecic) and his deputy Zikica Grujic (Bogdan Diklic) who are busy up to their necks with preparing a grandiose reception for Marshal, keeping the lid on town's factions and secretly squabbling for career points in the eyes of more important Party officials....

As opposed to "Balkanski spijun" which is a typical Dusan Kovacevic screenplay with limited number of characters all revolving around a central theme, Nikolic here successfully tries something different and slightly, but only slightly, more lighthearted with Zeljko Mijanovic's script which juggles multiple themes with a lot more characters. Also, he is going for laughs a little more than in "Spijun", a technique that works in most of the movie but for a few scenes which lack genuineness. Actors do an exceptional job and the look of the movie is good.

Conclusion: Definitely see this movie if you get a chance to, it's excellent!