Ми нисмо анђели Mi nismo anđeli We Are Not Angels |
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Directed by | Srđan Dragojević |
Produced by | Gojko Kastratović Ranko Petrič |
Written by | Srđan Dragojević |
Starring | Nikola Kojo Uroš Đurić Srđan Todorović Milena Pavlović Zoran Cvijanović Branka Katić Vesna Trivalić |
Music by | Aleksandar Eraković |
Cinematography | Dušan Joksimović |
Editing by | Branka Čeperac |
Release date(s) | 1992 |
Running time | 98 min |
Language | Serbian |
We Are Not Angels (Serbian: Ми нисмо анђели, Mi nismo anđeli) is a 1992 Yugoslav comedy directed by Srđan Dragojević that became one of the most popular films of the 1990s in the region of the former Yugoslavia.
The plot revolves around Angel (played by Uroš Đurić) and Devil (Srđan Todorović) fighting for the soul of Belgrade playboy Nikola (Nikola Kojo) who is unaware that he impregnated a high school student named Marina (Milena Pavlović) during a drunken one-night stand.
The film was lauded by critics for its inventive direction, tight editing, urban humour and its large number of pop culture references.
Its commercial success and later cult status, however, could be at least partially attributed to specific circumstances at the time of the film's premiere. Namely, before the film reached theatres, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was put under UN sanctions, thus depriving local theatres of Hollywood blockbusters. Many Serbian films filled that void and had great commercial success, including We Are Not Angels.
When the film began shooting, Yugoslavia only just began to disintegrate, so the film refers to certain locations in newly independent and war-torn Croatia as tourist destinations. The war itself is, however, referred to in a brief but darkly comical scene.
The popularity of We Are Not Angels expanded beyond Serbian borders. In Croatia, the film turned into a huge underground attraction and gradually became part of the popular culture, most notably through various slang words that became part of urban vocabulary.
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The movie was shot during fall 1991 using the production capabilities of Avala Film. The making of the movie coincided with the beginning stages of the disintegration of SFR Yugoslavia that included continual ethnically-motivated incidents in the breakaway constituent republic of SR Croatia that culminated in the Battle of Vukovar.
Since the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) was involved in the above conflict, it was conscripting young men for battle thus many of the film's male crew members including director Dragojević received military call-ups. According to Dragojević, in order to avoid the draft, they resorted to sleeping in different apartments most nights during the movie's shooting.[1]
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Two sequels, We Are Not Angels 2 (2005) and We Are Not Angels 3: Rockenroll Strikes Back (2006) were filmed and released in 2005 and 2006.
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