Quel rosso mattino di giugno - attentato a Sarajevo

This Yugoslav epic is loud, boisterous but, surprisingly, incredibly boring and flat. Even a few great actors can't make this story rise above average.

In 1914, Serbian terrorists head to Sarajevo. Their goal: intercept Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Christopher Plummer) and assassinate him, hopefully provoking a national uprising against the long-time Austrian menace.

Christopher Plummer ("The Royal Hunt of the Sun") and Maximilian Schell ("The Young Lions") are both fine actors – Schell is almost always brilliant in off-the-wall performances, and Plummer has carried a number of excellent dramas. Here, the two men seem to be sleepwalking through their roles. As Ferdinand, Plummer is both uninteresting and unengaging. There is nothing particularly bad about his performance; he is just weak and shallow.

Schell fares only slightly better in a more limited role as a Serb who provides training and arms to the terrorists. His interrogation is especially good, until the rather hammy conclusion. The young Yugoslav actors try very hard; this was the first "big" international film for all of them. Unfortunately, the script doesn't allow them to dig very deep into their hearts for any real emotion. They're committed to their cause, but the audience doesn't really know why – therefore, we can never really relate and end up feeling completely detached from the on screen action.

Veteran director Bulajic handles the production very well. His camera is always on the move, and the fast-paced editing during the climax is excellent. The last 10 minutes or so of the film are particularly nail-biting and engaging, ending with a bittersweet climax and rather mournful score. Again, though, the dramatic effect of these scenes is seriously hampered by a lack of character development.

This is a historically accurate film, make no mistake about that. In trying to re-create the details so faithfully, however, the producers did not take any creative liberty with the story. There wasn't anything particularly interesting or suspenseful about the events leading up to Ferdinand's assassination, and there is not much suspense or engagement in the film, either. A few encounters with the police or military authorities are resolved quickly with expected results. Plummer's stronger moments – including a great opening scene and, later, a discussion of an invasion of Serbia – fade into the background because they are never developed. Every scene in this film stands alone; while there is a continuous narrative, there is no strong uniting theme or ideal behind the storyline. This is simply a no-holds-barred look at history and the result is a tedious sequence of flat scenes.

"The Day that Shook the World" is a well-meaning movie that gets so caught up in self-importance that it fails to engage the audience in its story. High production values and a cast of stars do not guarantee success if the script is a weak failure. This is enjoyable only for history buffs or perhaps for an audience with a connection to the events. I can understand why foreign audiences may not enjoy patriotic American films; I cannot enjoy a patriotic foreign film if the themes do not apply to me in some way, and that is what this movie is – and inapplicable piece of nostalgia.

So you might find yourself watching this movie somehow, somewhere. For me, it was a class about a much more talented Bosnian director (Emir Kusturica) and the film was shown to give us a better understanding of the recent history of the region. Anyway, this movie is OK when it's OK, and really, really bad when it's really, really bad. Just watch the hilarious torture scene with Maxmillian Schell. Honestly, it's hysterically funny how hammy the acting is.

And the dubbing is really bad, even though it looks like it was shot in English to begin with.

The only scenes of merit are the limited battle sequences. The rest is stupid and obvious, with over-wrought faces and an annoying supporting conspirator in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who bounces from playboy to patriot at the drop of a hat. It takes him three minutes to make the obvious pun that he has a date with destiny. Whatever, watch this film some time if you want a good laugh.

¨The Day that shook the world¨ is a historic film providing a different look at the deeds leading to the known assassination of Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand(Christopher Plummer) and his wife Sophie(Florinda Bolkan) that triggered WWI. This intriguing drama with interesting screenplay by Paul Jarrico contains description about the assassination preparation at charge a revolutionary group trained by an anarchist(Maximilian Schell). They organize a secret conspiracy to kill the empire Austrian-Hungarian's heir. The film describes efficiently the previous events surrounding and of course the final climax, the assassination which fired the spark of war. The movie is a little boring and slow moving but the story will like to historical events' enthusiastic.Spectacular sets and nice production design, however is urgently necessary a digital remastering but the copy is worn-out. The motion picture is regularly directed by Veljko Bulajic who directed another historic movie: Battle of river Neretva.

The historic events concern on Franz Josef I(played by Otomar), Emperor of Austria and Hungary from 1848 to 1916, spent most of his long reign seeking to hold his disparate empire together. He married to Empress Elizabeth, the famous Sissi(immortalized by Romy Schneider), an unhappy woman, who was fatally stabbed by an anarchist(Geneva in 1898). The Habsburg hold on Germany(under emperor William II) has steadily diminished and Frank Josef looked increasingly to the east as the basis for his power. Here he found nothing but trouble , Hungarian moves for independence, European opposition to the initiatives he took in the Balkans and eventually, war with Servia. When it came, the war was greeted with general rejoicing, troops set off with smiles for a land of darkness. The spark that set the world ablaze was the assassination of the royal couple, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Never had war been waged on such scale, never had so many weapons been forged, never had armies been amassed in such numbers. The war was fought in the skies, on the seas, but most of all on land. At first it was a war of movement, Austrian and German army moved east to do battle against Servia and Russia. The criminal happening about Sarajevo assassination caused an incalculable disaster, the fate of its authors was the following : Danilo Ilic, death by hanging; Trifko Grabez death in prison; Misko Jovanovik, death by hanging; Jakov Milovik death by hanging; Velko Oubrilovik, death in prison; Mehmed escaped to Montenegro; and Labrinovik , death in prison.

I watched this film starting 10pm on the eve of June 28, 2014. Hundred years passed.

Some of my distant relatives were members of that horrible organization called The Black Hand a.k.a Unification or Death. They really believed that they are doing something important and faithful. It really turned out to be that way.

As my predecessors told me in long evening stories, that this film really depicts those events well. If you want to know what happened in Sarajevo that day, this is a film to watch.

If you ask me should of Princip killed Ferdinand I say NO! Bosnia would of been better of if it stayed in the union with Austria, rather that Yugoslavia was created! Mother of all mistakes! History is full of them!

I am not going to say that just because this movie doesn't have any high speed car or motorcycle chase scenes, doesn't have any racy sex scenes with full body nudity, doesn't show anybody cheating on their spouse, and doesn't have any foul mouthed ranting therefore it must be boring! I find "The Day That Shook The World" to be a very accurate historical drama with beautiful scenery, elaborate costumes and fine acting from world class actors! This movie is kind of a history lesson, telling the story of an historical event that changed the world, in a way that allows the audience to see it from a number of different perspectives! I guess that is good enough for me. 👍