Karaula

This film is about a lieutenant lying about an imminent Albanian attack in order to cover up his syphilis infection.

I am quite impressed by the portrayal of the army, the tough and physical side are mixed with a humorous and prank loving side. The beginning of the film is quite funny, but in the middle it turns into a drama and in the end it becomes tragedy. The story is sad and moving, but I somehow feel it lacks the substance to grip viewers. Maybe it is because I was secretly wanting an Albanian attack, the ironic fulfilment of a made up joke. This film is an interesting watch, but it is unfortunately not a masterpiece as I expected it to be.

Possibly the best Balkan comedy in 10 years! Masterful direction by Rajko Grlic and riveting performance by Emir Hadzihafizbegovic (without doubt the best Bosnian actor ever).

A comedy that's actually funny! Because the humor is so raunchy and scatological some people may be a bit embarrassed about entering into the spirit of this film, but I'm sure they wouldn't be able to help themselves. I roared laughing out loud and that didn't stop until the final chapter that turned into a tragedy (there is always a thin line...) This is not so much a 'political' movie as some people may believe, rather it's a story focusing on the character and mentality of people from the Balkans. Despite all problems and absurdities of soldier life on brink of war their sense of humor remained second to none. Highly recommended! 10/10

I have seen the movie on it's preshowing in Cinestar Zagreb on Saturday 18th. The movie is in my opinion - the best Croatian movie in last 15 years. In one word - MASTERPIECE!!! You must see this brilliant comedy. All credits to Rajko and Ante, and also to Emir who's acting is superb !!!!

Story plot: At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service, counting days to the moment when they should take their uniforms off for good. It is the spring of 1987 and the thought never even crosses their mind that they would, in fact, put them back on quite soon and go to war. These are the last days of the country called Yugoslavia. Yet no one knew at the time.

Daily routine of the army is disrupted by unusual circumstances. Frustrated and always drunk, lieutenant Safet Pasic feels a strange pain in his groins. He seeks help from the only doctor among the soldiers, Sinisa Sircevic, who finds out, very discretely, that it's a sexually transmitted disease. Not wishing his wife to know about it and trying to find excuses not to go home, Pasic declares a state of emergency, claiming that the Albanian army is preparing an attack against Yugoslavia. A joke transforms into war hysteria: soldiers dig trenches, Pasic grows wilder as days go by, Sinisa embarks on a dangerous liaison, and his best friend Ljuba Paunovic makes an unconditional decision to leave the army. The situation slowly runs out of control...

Speaking about not so distant past with no nostalgia and no hatred, Border Post is a comedy about people on the verge of tragedy.

Not many movies made such a good use of stereotypes and urban myths of former Yugoslav Army. Two older guys in the story, Ljuba and Sinisa, are smarter than the rest of the lot, supposedly 19-years old conscripts (one is educated, the other is street-smart sociopath). Ubiquitous sound of so called folk music and appalling rudeness in communication are also contributing to making this movie the closest thing to actually being there. And strangely enough, not hating it.

It is a bit unfortunate that Grlic, with his incredible sense for funny and bizarre, hadn't had a chance to make more films in the past.

Still, this one almost makes up for years of his absence from the scene.

The movie is a true Balkan Love story - Sex, Passion, Love, Tragedy. If you watch some of the American romantic comedies before watching Karaula, you'll see the diffеrences. And there's a second line of the story (that is a bit difficult for people outside the Balkans to understand - which is the reason for the words on the screen at the end of the film) - all the main characters are from different ex-Yugoslavian countries, but they are no different as people. So when you start watching the film you get the feeling of a happy story, maybe even comedy, but the film goes deeper and deeper. Pretty good film, makes you think. Actors are perfect, maybe because it's a true story and it's not very different from what happens in their real life. So go and watch it if you have the chance, you wouldn't regret it.