| Valter brani Sarajevo Das ist Walter Walter Defends Sarajevo |
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Valter Brani Sarajevo film poster |
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| Directed by | Hajrudin Krvavac |
| Written by | Đorđe Lebović |
| Starring | Bata Živojinović Rade Marković Ljubiša Samardžić Neda Spasojević Dragomir Bojanić |
| Music by | Bojan Adamič |
| Editing by | Jelena Bjenjaš |
| Release date(s) | 1972 |
| Running time | 133 min |
| Language | Serbo-Croatian German |
Valter brani Sarajevo (English: Walter Defends Sarajevo, German: Walter verteidigt Sarajewo) is a Yugoslav partisan drama film that takes place during World War II.[1]
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Walter Defends Sarajevo takes place in Sarajevo, Bosnia against the German withdrawal from Yugoslavia towards the end of World War II in 1944. The Nazis are desperate to have their tank divisions in Greece diverted to shore up the defence of Germany. In order to get the tank divisions safely back, they need fuel, and Sarajevo is an important refuelling post. Utmost secrecy is required as interference with the fuel supplies in Sarajevo will endanger the whole of the German war effort. There is one problem however: a partisan resistance leader named Walter, who is so shadowy that not even his own people know anything about him, including what he looks like, gets in their way. The withdrawal is so critical that a top agent is sent to identify and eliminate Walter and the Sarajevo resistance movement.[2][3]
With so little known about Walter, it is easy for the German agent to infiltrate the resistance movement and pretend that he is the resistance man. As betrayal follows betrayal nobody knows who is working for who, and least understood of all is the identity of a mysterious arrival who claims to be on the run from Mostar.[3]
Yugoslavian band Zabranjeno Pušenje named their first album Das ist Walter, in honour of the film.[4] The first track on the album is the theme from the film by Bojan Adamič followed by the famous dialogue from the movie between two German officers while overlooking the city of Sarajevo.
The film is very popular in China, so much that Valter Beer was sold in China, with Velimir Bata Živojinović (as Walter) on the label.[5] During the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, USA aircraft bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, and Velimir Bata Živojinović went to visit them in the hospital.[6]
The film is also well known for its end dialogue in German:
Colonel: Merkwürdig! Seit ich in Sarajevo bin, suche ich Walter und finde ihn nicht. Und jetzt, wo ich gehen muss, weiss ich wer er ist. (Since I have been in Sarajevo, I have been looking for Walter, but couldn't find him. And yet, as I am leaving, I know who he is.)
Gestapo: Sie wissen wer Walter ist?! Sagen Sie mir sofort seinen Namen! (You know who Walter is?! Tell me his name right away!)
Colonel: Ich werde ihn Ihnen zeigen... Sehen Sie diese Stadt? Das ist Walter! (I will show him to you... You see this city [Sarajevo]? That is Walter.)