The Tour (film)

The Tour
Directed by Goran Marković
Starring Tihomir Stanić
Jelena Djokić
Dragan Nikolić
Release date
  • August 30, 2008 (2008-08-30) (Montréal World Film Festival)
  • October 8, 2008 (2008-10-08) (Serbia)
Running time
 114 minutes
Country Serbia
Language Serbian

The Tour (Serbian: Turneja, Турнеја) is a 2008 Serbian film directed by Goran Marković. It was Serbia's official submission for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Plot

In December 1993, as the Bosnian War rages, Stanislav, an actor living in Belgrade, convinces members of a theater troupe to perform with him at the front lines. Desperate for money, the troupe, consisting of Miško, Sonja, Zaki, Lale, and Jadranka, accept the offer.

The troupe arrives in a derelict town occupied by the Army of Republika Srpska. The troupe puts on a satirical comedy performance which is booed by the soldiers. The local commander pressures them to hand over their earnings to the local Serbs, and to stage a Serbian nationalist performance to boost morale. This performance ends disastrously when Lale is beaten up by drunken soldiers. Fed up with Stanislav over his false promises, the troupe decides to leave early but cannot locate their driver, Djuro. They trek through the surrounding combat zone looking for transportation, traversing a minefield in the process, but are captured by HVO militiamen. Sonja, a Croatian Serb, tries to fool the soldiers into thinking they are Croats by performing a scene from a Croatian nationalist piece, but their commander sees through their ruse. As the Croatian troops prepare to force them back across the minefield, a Serbian paramilitary unit (obvious reference to Arkan's Tigers) surrounds and captures the Croats. The troupe is forced to watch helplessly as the paramilitary commander (himself a devout fan of the actors) forces the captured soldiers to march to their deaths in the minefield. Back at the town, Misko encounters and old friend from Belgrade, Ljubić. Ljubić offers to bring them along with him back to Belgrade the following day, and even provides them with accommodation at the local hotel. They are unceremoniously thrown out after a drunken Zaki insults the wife of the hotelier, Danilo. The troupe spend the night in Djuro's bus. The next day, Ljubić, working as a propagandist, informs them that he must first deliver a speech to troops in Derventa. En route, Lale accosts Ljubić for espousing nationalist rhetoric, and tells him that the whole world recognizes the actions of the Serbs as evil. A scuffle ensues when Ljubić calls Lale a fascist, and Djuro loses control of the bus, which crashes in the middle of the forest. As they ponder their next move, they are surrounded by ARBiH soldiers. Ljubić is taken away to his presumed execution after the commander recognizes him from a nationalist speech he gave on television. After Jadranka performs a compelling monologue, the commander offers them safe passage to Belgrade. The troupe finally return to Belgrade. They try to relax and enjoy a group dinner in their theater, but the awkward and unpleasant atmosphere remains.

Cast

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