In June of 1942 Germans and their collaborators decide to get rid of partisans and their stronghold in the woods of Mount Kozara in Northern Bosnia. They encircle the mountain and begin the mop up operation. Out gunned and outnumbered the partisans must not only take care of themselves but try to protect thousands of refugees too.
Cinematography
Misty mountain battles shot like nature itself is bleeding.
Direction
Bulajić throws 10,000 extras at the screen and somehow keeps it intimate.
Acting
Velimir Živojinović's Šorga: rage, weariness, and weird dad energy.
Director
Veljko Bulajić
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tito's government provided actual Yugoslav People's Army soldiers as extras; some had fought at Kozara. Method casting, 1962 edition.
The real Kozara battle became foundational Yugoslav mythology; this film helped cement 'partisan epic' as the nation's dominant cinematic genre until the country's collapse.
YU
