Maratonci trce pocasni krug

There is a set of movies that leaves me absolutely speechless, actually to be more precise, unable to find superlatives to describe their true genius. It's the case of Wong Kar Wai's Fa Yeung Nin Wa or Ron Fricke's Baraka or Theo Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day. Those films have absolutely nothing in common as related to topic, genre or style yet they represent lonely peaks in a desert of movies that can not raise up to their stature. It's one of those movies that keeps you breathlessly clinged up to the end, and I am not talking about suspense. When it is over, you will exclaim: "I've never seen anything like it". Even viewed for the tenth time, "the marathon family" will produce a breeze of freshness, exquisite humour(that western people usually don't appreciate...) and astonishment. The metaphor reveals itself towards the end, in an accelerated rhythm - war between brothers and the fall of a nation, also lamented by Kusturica in Underground in a similar humourish yet bitter fashion. I give it a definite ten (10). Chapeau Bas!!!

It is a pity that in spite of it's greatness, the movie is very sensitive to translation ... of language and socio-political environment.

In the magic of the Yugoslav eighties, this film was like something you will never have seen before. The sense of humor those guys had is incredible, comparable only to greatness like Mark Twain, Jaroslav Hasek, Monty Python, in their best years.

Please do also see "Ko to tamo peva" (from two years earlier, same scriptwriter&director).

And remember, if at first you don't succeed.. do yourself a big favor and watch the movie again. Then if you still don't like it, do yourself a bigger favor still and go see 'Airplane II'(also same script,writer&director..) and forget about Serbian comedy.

10/10

I guess there is no any younger Serb who does not know at least one sentence from this movie. This movie is simply the cult. Dialogs and acting are so great that many phrases from this movie are already became part of modern serbian language.

Kovacevic's script is even better then original play. He and that entire generation of actors and moviemakers, have influenced our lives and perception so greatly. The movie is also very educational, it pictures time and mentality of small serbian town during 1930's, better then any other movie.

And finally whole story just never fades away: five generations of Topalovic's are 'crying' because their oldest member and founder of their funeral company, 156 year old Pantelija, has died...

I just worship this movie!

This movie has witty dialogue that is memorized in its entirety by many fans across the Balkan region. While much might be lost in translation, this movie is such a hit, artistically and such a gem of a cult classic, that it is well worth a watch for anyone interested in the Serbian and Balkan culture. It is also extremely original, but since you need to understand a bit about the mentality of the people whom it mocks some of the best parts might go over your head. You should see it nevertheless.

Few Serbian films stand up to the standards expected from the Western cinema, but this one cannot be overpraised: everything that's already been said here is true, and then some! A masterpiece in the purest sense of the word.

If re-watchability of a film is one of its major qualities, than this film beats any other that I know of: you can watch it dozens and dozens of time without ever getting bored - it's so funny& profound at the same time.

If you're a Serb, than you certainly already know this film by heart: if you are not, and are intrigued by this praise= by all means try to find it. I hope there is a good translation of its dialogue somewhere, because a lot depends on a quality rendition of the nuances of the actors' words.