Bela ladja

Back in the 1980s Yugoslavian cinematography experienced a tidal wave of comedy, mostly based on socio-political issues. The quality of that production is quite questionable, and one lasting byproduct of the era were series of satiric movies named "Tesna Koza". Script was poor, scenery was trash, frame was awful, yet two major and brilliant actors managed to pull the whole thing on to a level and make it funny in a particular way - Nikola Simic and Milan Lane Gutovic. In short, the story revolves around a mid aged corporate book worm in a rotten socialist company called Pantic, and a corrupt, primitive and manipulative CEO Srecko Sojic. The last of "Tesna Koza" sequels was filmed in 1991, after which the whole concept was formally put to rest. And it stayed in peace... until Sinisa Pavic decided to resurrect it and turn the whole thing into a horrible degenerated zombie named "Bela Ladja".

Just like all of Pavic's later creations, "Bela Ladja" is yet another cyborg made to appeal on the lowest masses. The only remnant of the old cast, Lane Gutovic, is pretty much a single positive thing about this TV misery. Everything else, starting from the boring and forcefully written scenario up to the acting is just awful. Bad jokes, a lot of screaming, repeating those same bad jokes in circles (so the dumb audience would get it from 2nd or 3rd time round, probably), southern redneck dialect, characters written with no imagination and creativity what so ever... it just goes on and on. In short - daily politics and bad humor blended into a sludgy TV boredom.

Target group for "Bela Ladja" is probably the 40+ population with almost no education, pretty empty brains and dull lives. Would You believe we have the treat of watching it almost every weekend for the last 4 years... I'm starting to think it'll never end. 1 point is way too much, but what can I do...

Picture if you had a severe traffic accident - a speeding bus hit you, you're in ER, doctors are fighting for your life when SUDDENLY, you're waking up... but now you're a drooling vegetable! And what's worse - you see this show on TV and you LIKE IT! You think it's brilliant and funny!

As you lay there on your bed, chuckling at this corny mess of a series (loosely based on a series of GOOD movies titled "Tight Skin"), your family members look at you, tearfully realizing what a shell of former self you have become.

The series kept going on and then one day, your wife "accidentally" trips over the life support power cable, sending you to a better place, far away from this cheap abomination.

If you look for an example in which one man makes all the difference, this is just the case. Other than Lane's main character, the rest of the show is too slow and ordinary, sometimes anoyingly stupid (in some places, I suspect this may be done on purpose). Even screenplay by Sinisa Pavic could be described as weak, to say the least.

But Sojic (Lane Gutovic), with the great help from his butler Cirko (great role by Aleksandar Dunic), once again brings his A game to the audience turning a dull show into an interesting political and social parody.

Felt good watching it and picking up all the funny scenes and guffs by Sojic. Some of them are retold to this day, and they always seem put a smile on your face.

An excellent show that can be viewed multiple times and still be funny. Great acting, great scenario. In order to understand some scenes, it is necessary to understand the Serbian language.

This story paints a picture of life in the Serbian capital - people's ongoing struggles to make ends meet in a society that is plagued by poverty and corruption brought upon by their own uneducated and greedy leaders. How true and relevant! This series is simply brilliant and Milan Gutovic, along with some other cast members, deserves an Oscar. In light of so many recent low quality domestic series, this one is actually very refreshing to watch. With its excellent portrayal of Serbian culture, mentality, and political/economical situation, this series covers current topics in a light and humorous way. I find myself watching the episodes multiple times and laughing out loud over and over again.

All 80+ episodes deserve the standing ovation!