Film Review: In the Mountains of Yugoslavia (V gorakh Yugoslavii, 1946)

Orwell might have invented the phrase "memory holed", but his famous novel 1984 only described what had been a practice of various governments and regimes throughout history. In the turbulent times of the 20th Century, erasing any mention of people and events that had become embarrassing and politically damaging was bound to affect cinema. Many films, even some that had been expensive, ambitious or popular, suddenly became the equivalent of "the uncle nobody talks about". A textbook example could be found in In the Mountains of Yugoslavia, a 1946 Soviet war epic directed by Abram Room, which, at least according to some criteria, represents the first feature film in the history of Yugoslav cinema and the first film of a genre later known as "Partisan film".

The plot deals with Yugoslavia during the Second World War and begins on June 22nd 1941, a few months after Nazi Germany with its Axis allies have occupied the country. In Belgrade, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia led by Josip Broz Tito (played by Ivan Bersenev) decides to start an uprising against the occupiers and collaborators. Activists are sent all over the country, and one of them comes to a village in the Bosnian mountains where a peasant named Slavko Babić (played by Nikolai Mordvinov) decides to join the Partisans and leads his villagers. Despite a lack of heavy weapons, he manages to defeat an Italian column. After this victory, he has to hold the line against technically superior German forces, which he does, despite being betrayed by Chetniks led by Blaža (played by Dragutin Todić). Unable to defeat Babić, the Germans hope to make him surrender by using the Chetniks to take his wife hostage. Babić is, however, determined to continue fighting, and Germany's best general, Erwin Rommel (played by Bojan Stupica), is brought from the North African theatre in order to surround and destroy the Partisan forces. His plan is thwarted by Tito's strategic deception, carried out by Babić, which would allow the Partisans to slip across the River Neretva. After a series of hard battles in the mountains, in October 1944, the Partisans finally join with the Soviet Red Army, and Babić takes part in the triumphant liberation of Belgrade.

Originally titled Storm Over the Balkans, the film, like all Soviet films made at the time, had a mainly propaganda purpose, but also served as a way for the Soviet Union to prop up their new Communist ally in the form of Yugoslav leader Tito, whose exploits as the leader of an efficient guerilla force made him popular in Allied nations during the war. The production began in May 1945, shortly after the end of hostilities, and took six months, with luxury hotels in the Croatian city of Opatija serving as interiors, while Belgrade, Dubrovnik and various mountain locations being used for exteriors. Abram Room, one of the more experienced Soviet directors whose career began in the silent era and, among other things, included Bed and Sofa, is assisted by Eisenstein's famous cinematographer Eduard Tisse, while the Yugoslav Army provides extras as well as uniforms, weapons and equipment captured during the war. However, despite those resources, Room's attempt to reconstruct the Yugoslav WW2 campaign isn't very likely to impress the audience. The main problems are over-theatrical acting, as well as some poor dialogue in the script by Georgi Mdivani. Mordvinov, who plays the fictional hero, fares much worse than Ivan Bersenev playing Tito, perhaps simply because the Yugoslav leader appears less in the film. Bersenev, by some testimonies, took his job very seriously and even spent some time in Tito's company, trying to study his manners and body movements, thus compensating for the lack of physical resemblance.

Even less perceptive viewers won't have problems recognising the propaganda purpose in this film. The script tries very hard to advocate friendship and co-operation between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and even adds characters of escaped Red Army POWs who just happen to stumble into the battle in the mountains and single-handedly turn it in favour of the Partisans. On the other hand, Room's film also served Yugoslav internal propaganda by showing that the country's anti-fascist struggle was the work of all of its ethnicities. Babić's village is presumably Bosnian Serb, but Babić receives crucial assistance in his struggle from his Muslim neighbour Hamdija (played by Slovenian actor Vladimir Skrbinšek) and his political commissar Ivo (played by Croatian actor Vjekoslav Afrić) is presumably Croat. Balance is shown even when portraying official villains – Serb Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović, again played by Afrić, but this time with his famous beard and spectacles (unlike his first onscreen incarnation in the 1943 Hollywood propaganda film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerillas where he wore his iconic beard and glasses) appears in a scene talking with a German general shortly after the scene in which Ante Pavelić, leader of the fascist Ustashas and the puppet entity of the Independent State of Croatia (played by an actor whose name was never mentioned in the credits) does the same. On the other hand, the plot of the film, to a degree, follows the general outline of the Yugoslav WW2 campaign, depicts some important battles and mentions real-life Partisan commanders and heroes, but the general chronology is messed up. Rommel, played by the famous Slovenian theatre director Bojan Stupica, indeed fought Yugoslav Partisans, but only in Slovenia and months after the Battle of Neretva.

When In the Mountains of Yugoslavia appeared in Yugoslav cinemas, despite the propaganda, it failed to connect with the audience, which might be explained by language barriers and local characters being played by Russian actors. According to some testimonies, Tito also didn't like the film. When in 1948 came Tito-Stalin's split, the film was instantly put into archives and conveniently forgotten in both countries. Under the new circumstances, Tito couldn't tolerate a film in which he is played by a Russian actor, while Stalin couldn't stand a film celebrating a traitor that his propaganda depicted as a fascist. The film became virtually unknown for new generations of filmgoers, but its production did have some impact. Vjekoslav Afrić gained valuable experience on the set that would serve him well one year later when he directed his own Partisan epic Slavica, officially the very first feature film in the history of Yugoslav cinema. In the Mountains of Yugoslavia became available only after both Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union disappeared. Today's viewers might be amused by the way history played with it and, despite seeing it more as a curiosity than a particularly effective or important piece of cinema.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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