Der Aufstand von Timok

TIMOCKA BUNA is one of the least relevant Zika Mitrovic films. It was made as a vehicle for Yugoslav superstar Ljubisa Samardzic. The funding was obtained through Samardzic's connections with local factories based on the territory where actual Timocka Buna (The Timok Rebellion) took place in the XIX century.

Film depicts the Timok rebellion, event when a part of Serbia arose against the monarchy, supported by the Radical Party, the strongest entity in Serbian Parliament at the time.

Sadly, this poignant event was filmed in Communism, thus authors weren't allowed to truly explore the political and historical background of the events.

The screenplay is flat. It lacks action and relies on self-explanatory sterile dialogue. Characters are one-dimensional, shaped after safely disinfected rules of educational programs.

Mitrovic's direction is as bland. The film is immobile, slow and clumsy, slightly under-budgeted and quite close to television standards. This is why TIMOCKA BUNA makes more sense on the smaller screen. Mitrovic tries to redeem this flop by a few crafty Western shots in the final minutes of the film but by then, all is already lost.

TIMOCKA BUNA can be relevant for scholars who study XIX century history. It isn't truly historically relevant but it can at least depict how some of the historical figures actually looked like and dressed at the time.