Walter Defends Sarajevo
| Valter brani Sarajevo | |
|---|---|
 Valter Brani Sarajevo film poster | |
| Directed by | Hajrudin Krvavac |
| Produced by | Petar Sobajic |
| Written by | Đorđe Lebović |
| Starring |
Velimir Živojinović Ljubiša Samardžić Rade Marković |
| Music by | Bojan Adamič |
| Cinematography | Miroljub Dikosavljevic |
| Editing by | Jelena Bjenjaš |
| Studio | Bosna Film |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 133 minutes |
| Country | Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Language |
Serbo-Croatian German |
Walter Defends Sarajevo (Bosnian: 'Valter brani Sarajevo', Serbo-Croatian: 'Valter brani Sarajevo', in Cyrillic: Валтер брани Сарајево; Chinese: 瓦尔特保卫萨拉热窝, in Pinyin: Wǎ'ěr tè bǎowèi sàlārèwō) is a 1972 Yugoslav partisan film, directed by Hajrudin Krvavac and starring Velimir Živojinović.
Plot
In late 1944, as the end of World War II approaches, the Wehrmacht's high command determines to withdraw General Alexander Löhr's Army Group E from the Balkans back to Germany. They plan to supply the tank columns with fuel from a depot in Sarajevo. The Yugoslav partisans' leader in the city, a mysterious man known as Walter, presents a grave danger to the operation's success, and the Germans dispatch Standartenführer von Dietrich of the SD to deal with him. As no one in the city seems to know even how Walter looks, Dietrich manages to have an operative infiltrate the resistance under the guise of Walter himself. The partisans are caught in a deadly game of betrayal, fraud and duplicity while trying to frustrate the Germans' plans.
Cast
- Velimir Živojinović as Walter
- Rade Marković as Sead Kapetanović
- Ljubiša Samardžić as Zis
- Slobodan Dimitrijević as Suri
- Neda Spasojević as Mirna
- Dragomir Gidra Bojanić as Condor
- Pavle Vuisić as train dispatcher
- Faruk Begolli as Branko
- Stevo Žigon as Doctor Mišković
- Jovan Janićijević as Josic
- Relja Bašić as the Obersturmführer
- Hannjo Hasse as von Dietrich
- Rolf Römer as Bischoff
- Fred Delmare as Sergeant Edel (credited as Axel Delmare)
- Herbert Köfer as German general
- Wilhelm Koch-Hooge as Lieutenant Colonel Hagen
- Helmut Schreiber as Lieutenant Colonel Wieland
- Emir Kusturica as young man
Production
Although not aiming to reflect history, the film's leading character was named after the partisan leader Vladimir Perić, known by his nom de guerre 'Walter', who commanded a resistance group in Sarajevo from 1943 until his death in the battle to liberate the city on April 6, 1945. Hajrudin Krvavac dedicated the picture to the people of Sarajevo and their heroism during the war.[1]
The film marked the beginning of Emir Kusturica's career in cinema, as he first appeared on screen in a small role playing a young communist activist.[2]
Reception
Walter Defends Sarajevo received a favorable response from the Yugoslav audience, especially in Sarajevo itself.[3]
The picture was distributed in sixty countries,[4] and achieved its greatest success in the People's Republic of China, becoming the country's most popular foreign film in the 1970s.[2] Owing mainly to the Chinese audience, Walter Defends Sarajevo became "one of the most-watched war films of all time."[1]
Although it conveyed conservative political messages and stressed the brotherhood and unity of the population in the face of foreign occupation,[3] the film also became a cultural icon for the New Primitives' punk sub-culture: Zabranjeno Pušenje, one of the movement's leading bands, named their first album Das ist Walter, in honour of the film.[1]
In China, children and streets were named after characters from the film, and a beer brand called 'Walter' was marketed with Velimir Živojinović picture on the label. It still enjoys great popularity in the country.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pavle Levi. Disintegration in Frames: Aesthetics and Ideology in the Yugoslav and Post-Yugoslav Cinema. Stanford University Press (2007). ISBN 978-0-8047-5368-5. pp. 64-66.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Goran Gocić. Notes from the Underground: The Cinema of Emir Kusturica. Wallflower Press (2001). ISBN 978-1903364147. p. 16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robert J. Donia. Sarajevo: A Biography. University of Michigan Press (2006). ISBN 978-0472115570. p. 238.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dina Iordanova. The Cinema of the Balkans. Wallflower Press (2006). ISBN 978-1904764816. p. 115.