Battle of Neretva (1969)

Original title

Bitka na Neretvi

Directed by

Veljko Bulajić

Genre

drama film, action film, war film, partisan film

Country

Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, United States

Runtime

2h 55m

Rated

16

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 57 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film reenacts a 1943 battle during World War II in which Yugoslav Partisans fought against Axis forces near the Neretva River. It shows the strategic planning and brutal fighting of the conflict.

epicgrandhistoricsomberintenselarge-scalepatriotic

What happens

Battle of Neretva (Serbo-Croatian: Bitka na Neretvi, Битка на Неретви) is a 1969 Yugoslavian epic partisan film. Written by Stevan Bulajić and Veljko Bulajić, and directed by Veljko Bulajić, it is based on the true events of World War II. The Battle of the Neretva was due to a strategic plan for a combined Axis powers attack in 1943 against the Yugoslav Partisans. The plan was also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive and occurred in the area of the Neretva river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Battle of Neretva is the most expensive motion picture made in the SFR Yugoslavia. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the year after Sergei Bondarchuk (playing the role of Martin in Neretva) won the honour for War and Peace. The score for the English-speaking versions was composed by Bernard Herrmann. Its soundtrack was released by Entr'acte Recording Society in 1974. It was later re-released by Southern Cross Records on CD. One of the original posters for the English version of the movie was made by Pablo Picasso, which, according to Bulajić, the famous painter agreed to do without monetary payment, only requesting a case of the best Yugoslav wines. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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