Film Review: The Magic Sword (Čudotvorni mač, 1950)

In the first years of Communist Yugoslavia, cinema was seriously limited not only by a lack of technical know-how or resources, but also content which consisted mostly of crude Socialist Realist propaganda or celebration of recent World War II victories. Any film that managed to stray out of those limitations is bound to stand out as something unusual and memorable. Such an example can be found in The Magic Sword, a 1950 film directed by Vojislav Nanović, known as the first Yugoslav feature film belonging to the genre of fantasy and also the first which, through the decades, has built something resembling a cult status.

The film is based on a Serbian folk story, collected by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić in the 19th century. The plot is set in the Middle Ages, and the protagonist, played by Rade Marković, is Nebojša, a young shepherd who, long ago, as a young boy, stumbled into an abandoned castle and set free Baš Čelik (played by Milivoje Živanović), its demonic ruler. Nebojša now wants to marry a beautiful girl named Vida (played by Vera Đukić) and wins her hand in a contest with Gricko (played by Miroslav "Bata" Paskaljević), the chieftain's son. Gricko is jealous, leaves the village and, when stumbling into Baš Čelik and his knights, describes Vida's beauty. Baš Čelik arrives and, warning villagers that he and his men are invulnerable to weapons, enslaves them and takes away Vida to his castle. Nebojša is desperate to set her free, but this proves impossible until he learns Baš Čelik's secret – he could be defeated by a magic sword, apparently held in a cave where an old witch (played by Zora Zlatković) lives. Nebojša volunteers to do chores for the witch in exchange for her greatest treasure, even if it means that he would be beheaded if he fails in his task. He succeeds, but later learns that the sword is held in a distant city by an empress (played by Vilma Žedrinski) who, together with her hand and imperial crown, offers it as a reward to winners of a martial tournament.

The Magic Sword clearly shows its age, mainly through not particularly impressive black-and-white cinematography by Nenad Jovičić and Miljenko Stojanović, as well as somewhat archaic dialogues and a somewhat misplaced song composed by Krešimir Baranović whose soundtrack, based on South Slavic folk motifs, is otherwise very effective. In almost everything else, Nanović's film looks very polished and very effective, not very different from what you could have expected from quality works of fantasy cinema from other cinemas at the time, with a possible exception of Hollywood. Nanović has put the Avala Film studio complex, built only a few years earlier in the Košutnjak area of Belgrade, to good use, and the caves and medieval castles are reconstructed with ease, including even some basic but effective special effects. The Magic Sword also used exterior locations, including the famous Roman arena in the Croatian city of Pula, which would soon afterwards become the main venue of the Yugoslav film festival. The only serious drawback and sign that the crew and cast lacked proper experience can be seen in poorly choreographed fight scenes.

However, The Magic Sword appears to be a film that the cast and crew had great fun making. The script, co-written by Nanović and Jugoslav Đorđević, doesn't contain any traces of the official ideology, except with the protagonist being changed from the aristocratic prince into a shepherd commoner and with the finale in which peasants, led by Nebojša, rise against Baš Čelik as a feudal oppressor. Rade Marković, a young actor who would later have a great career as one of the most respected names in Serbian and Yugoslav cinema, marvels in his first starring role and delivers a convincing portrayal of naivety, enthusiasm and goodness in an archetypal hero that even resembles Luke Skywalker in the first incarnation of Star Wars. The rest of the cast is also good, especially Bata Paskaljević as a comical semi-villain in a role that would be first in the series to make him one of the more dependable character actors of Yugoslav cinema and television. Nanović, apart from humour, adds a couple of surreal elements (like talking fish) and some that might be a little too macabre for the youngest audience (like a ghostly figure demanding heads from the witch). There is also something that was quite a rarity in Yugoslav cinema at the time – scantily-clad dancers that entertain tournament participants and give a little hint of mild eroticism as the final piece of a winning formula. But, The Magic Sword still functions as good family entertainment, and the lack of fantasy films in Serbian and Yugoslav cinema in later decades, as well as common airing on television and subsequent pop culture references, maintained its popularity to this day.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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