La batalla de Neretva

There exist various versions of this film – running anywhere between 102 and 175 minutes; the one I watched, dubbed in Italian, was itself around 142 – although the official Italian print is actually 134 minutes long! Over the years, I had missed out on a couple of occasions to watch this – both on Italian and local TV, as well as a VHS rental. Given its title and roster of established international movie stars – Yul Brynner, Curd Jurgens, Sylva Koscina, Hardy Kruger, Franco Nero and Orson Welles – one could be forgiven for mistaking it as yet another WWII-set Hollywood epic a' la THE LONGEST DAY (1962) and BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965). Consequently, its eventual nomination for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award proves at first suspect and highly surprising but, in hindsight, well deserved since the film is actually a big-budget co-production between Yugoslavia, West Germany, Italy and even the U.S.A.

While the film is mostly distinguished by the fact that it features an impressive array of battle sequences which must surely be counted among the most spectacular of its era, it must also be said that it takes care and time to show the effects that constant warfare has on the behavior of human beings: an explosives expert (Brynner) is renounced and spat at by his own people when he is forced to destroy their only way back home to stop the advancing troops; two blind men leading each other during an airborne attack are led by the sound of another man's voice already taking cover; a partisan is driven crazy when stricken by typhus; a proud Italian general (Anthony Dawson) commits suicide in a shabby room where he is held in captivity by the partisans; an Italian captain (Nero) deserts his side to join the ranks of the partisans and is taken under his wing by an artillery officer (Sergei Bondarchuk); a brother and a sister (Koscina), both members of the Yugoslav partisans, die together when hugely outnumbered during a deadly encounter with a band of long-haired renegade Chetniks led by a hesitant senator (Welles)!; a German captain (Kruger) comes to respect the determination of his enemies during combat, etc.

Despite the various strands of plot touched upon and the multitude of major and minor characters involved, the unknown director weaves a clear and expansive picture of the river Neretva conflict – at least in the version I saw; one can only wonder what an incoherent mess the shorter versions (some of them accompanied by a new score by Bernard Herrmann, no less) must have been! Incidentally, in spite of that afore-mentioned Oscar nod, THE BATTLE OF NERETVA is still highly undervalued today – no doubt, its reputation is lost among the countless WWII actioners made both by Hollywood and Euro-Cult film-makers during the 1960s and 1970s.

Allegedly the most expensive film ever undertaken by the Yugoslav film industry, The Battle Of The Neretva is a tribute to the Partisan army that Josip Broz Tito raised to resist the Nazi occupation of his country. Operating in the mountains, the Partisans proved to be tough nut to crack for the occupying Axis armies.

The country of Yugoslavia which was created by the Allied countries at the Versailles Treaty did not long out last the man who saved it. That was once Yugoslavia is several separate states now. It was an unwieldy conglomerate nation composed of several ethnic groups with various religious backgrounds who had a legacy of Balkan hate of centuries. The Chetniks who collaborated with the Nazis just wanted to make sure they came out on top no matter who won the war. The monarchy of Yugoslavia was that of the former Serbia raised to be ruling all of what became Yugoslavia. No one who was Croatian, Montenegran, Macedonian, etc. wanted Serbian primacy. The Marxist Tito was more acceptable to most than a Serbian king.

A lot of the politics is necessary to know in order to understand what was going on while this battle was being fought. The Germans launched an offensive in the winter of 1943 aimed at wiping out Tito's Partisans and they did drive them to the Neretva River where ordered to stand with their backs to said river offering no retreat, the Partisans turned around and instead and kicked Nazi butt.

The Battle Of Neretva is a brutally uncompromising film about ugly guerrilla war and the version I saw is a slimmed down version. I'm betting I would have rated it higher had I seen the original 3 hours the film's release in Yugoslavia was exhibited at.

Such various international players as Yul Brynner, Franco Nero, Orson Welles, Curt Jurgens, and Hardy Kruger all have some interesting cameos. But the stars are the Yugoslav players most of you won't know in this film. I'm sure the Oscar for Best Foreign language film is based on the Academy voters having the original to judge.

This film is a nice tribute to a part of World War II that is not talked about too much in the west.

An amazing film. I have seen a 1h24 version, which is cut (you might say shot)to pieces, and it is like a Western European person's understanding of that part of the war - seen as though far away. You can't even tell the uniforms apart, which makes it all the more moving. You have no idea who is friend or foe. This is Europe tearing itself apart. And it's incomprehensible. All that's left is the terrible human (and equine - they did this on foot and on horseback) cost.

Knowing that Yougoslavia recently went through all this again makes it even more tragic.

The music is fabulous too.

I think I shall try to find a full 2 hour Yougoslave version.

Is this the greatest Yugoslav Partisan film or not. This movies is like Rambo before Rambo. Full of Action.Love and Drama. Some will say it is a propaganda movie by Tito but that is because they do not like the movie. Absolutely worth 2 hours and 46 minutes. If you have a free Sunday give this movie a go. Movie about the Heroism that were Yugoslav Partizans.

In January 1943 during WWII , Yugoslavian partisans are facing German and Italian troops . German Army afraid of Allied invasion of Balkans, launched great offensive against Yugoslav Partisans in Western Bosnia , as these one battle for freedom . The only way out for Partisan forces and thousands of refugees was the bridge on the river Neretva. The name Neretva, of the film's English title The Battle of the River Neretva or The Battle of the Neretva, is a name of Illyrian origin, and is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic Sea basin and is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia.

Big budget war movie contains thrills , emotion , historical events and impressive battles with a cast of thousands . However , lost continuity with excessive cuts . This movie's massive budget was personally approved by then Yugoslav president Tito. It was the first of the Yugoslav World War II film productions that were sponsored by the Yugoslav Government State and with funds provided by fifty-eight Yugoslave state . Very good main and support cast such as Yul Brynner as Vlado , Hardy Krüger as Col. Kranzer , Franco Nero as Capt. Michele Riva , Sylva Koscina as Danica , Orson Welles as Chetnik Senator , Curd Jürgens as Gen. Lohring ,Anthony Dawson and director Sergey Bondarchuk as Martin . At the time of its production, this was the most expensive film ever made in Eastern Europe ,outside the Soviet Unión . This movie was originally released at 175 minutes but was reduced by its US distributors to only 102 minutes when released in America. Atmospheric cinematography by Tomislav Pinter , though to need a good remastering . Evocative and military musical score by the classic Bernard Herrmann , Hitchcock's usual composer . Great production design and breathtaking outdoors . To shoot a railway bridge being blown-up, the movie's director, Veljko Bulajic wished to do it for real as it would, he believed, act as a tourist attraction after the shoot. A full-scale replica railway bridge was built in Jablanica and blown up but the smoke from the blasting prevented any visible and usable shots. The bridge was then repaired, re-built for a second time, and blown up again with the same result. Finally, to capture the bridge being blown up, a small-scale miniature model was used. The motion picture was regularly directed by Veljko Bulajic, including excessive cuts and some scenes with no sense . It was the most expensive Yugoslav movie ever made and taking sixteen months in production to shoot and complete.

The picture was based on historical deeds , these are the followings : The Battle of the Neretva was a World War II battle launched by the Nazis and running between January and April 1943 in the environs of the River Neretva, Herzegovina, then Nazi German occupied Yugoslavia. The Battle was code-named Fall Weiss and was named after this neighboring Neretva River. The battle was a combined Nazi strategic plan involving Axis Allies Italy, Croatian Ustasha (Croatian Revolutionary Movement) and Chetniks (Serbian Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia) units to wipe out the Yugoslav Partisans from German Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. The battle of Neretva is also known as the Fourth Anti-Partisan Offensive; the Fourth Enemy Offensive, as well as The Battle for the Wounded.