A great sequel to a great movie
After the success of Captain Lechi in 1960,naturally,a sequel was expected from Zika Mitrovic. He did that 2 years later by filming the post-war Western Obracun.
In this film,the brave Captain Ramiz Lesi gets in the middle of some wrongdoing by a rich man named Hasan-beg(Ilija Milcin) and Saban Murtezi(Abdurrahman Salja), a former comrade of Ramiz who betrayed him during the war and is now the leader of a Balist group working outside the Metohija village of Glum.Afraid that the Communist government will give his land to poor peasants,Hasan-beg pays Murtezi and his men to drive the Partisans out of Glum.In order to do so,they attack the village and massacre many of its occupants,making the Partisans send in a special division led by Ramiz.Fully aware that his young fiancé Azira(Jelena Zigon)and Ramiz have been in love for 3 years, Hasan-beg promises Murtezi permanent financial support in exchange for the murder of Captain Lesi...
In some points,Obracun is even better than its predecessor. The characterization is much more deeper here. It especially concerns Hasan-beg as a ruthless,unfeeling tyrant willing to do anything in order to maintain his land and his trophy girl Azira, Mefail,the number-one guy of Saban Murtezi(a primitive and cold-blooded bandit excellently played by Gojko Kovacevic)and his nephew Kadrija(Dragan Ocokoljic),a young intellectual forced by his uncle into the Balist group. Unlike Captain Lechi,which resembles the archetypal Western, Obracun has all the elements of a great Spaghetti Western: several intertwined stories which all lead to a tense end, complex characterizations and main characters who are mostly motivated by greed and lust.
However, this film has its weak points. Old man Sok has a significantly smaller role in this film(although it is still important), there is a plot hole which I will not reveal in this review,and the film itself is shorter than its prequel, making less room for plot twists. This is maybe the reason Mitrovic did not make any more films about Captain Lechi.
However, it still deserves a 9.
In this film,the brave Captain Ramiz Lesi gets in the middle of some wrongdoing by a rich man named Hasan-beg(Ilija Milcin) and Saban Murtezi(Abdurrahman Salja), a former comrade of Ramiz who betrayed him during the war and is now the leader of a Balist group working outside the Metohija village of Glum.Afraid that the Communist government will give his land to poor peasants,Hasan-beg pays Murtezi and his men to drive the Partisans out of Glum.In order to do so,they attack the village and massacre many of its occupants,making the Partisans send in a special division led by Ramiz.Fully aware that his young fiancé Azira(Jelena Zigon)and Ramiz have been in love for 3 years, Hasan-beg promises Murtezi permanent financial support in exchange for the murder of Captain Lesi...
In some points,Obracun is even better than its predecessor. The characterization is much more deeper here. It especially concerns Hasan-beg as a ruthless,unfeeling tyrant willing to do anything in order to maintain his land and his trophy girl Azira, Mefail,the number-one guy of Saban Murtezi(a primitive and cold-blooded bandit excellently played by Gojko Kovacevic)and his nephew Kadrija(Dragan Ocokoljic),a young intellectual forced by his uncle into the Balist group. Unlike Captain Lechi,which resembles the archetypal Western, Obracun has all the elements of a great Spaghetti Western: several intertwined stories which all lead to a tense end, complex characterizations and main characters who are mostly motivated by greed and lust.
However, this film has its weak points. Old man Sok has a significantly smaller role in this film(although it is still important), there is a plot hole which I will not reveal in this review,and the film itself is shorter than its prequel, making less room for plot twists. This is maybe the reason Mitrovic did not make any more films about Captain Lechi.
However, it still deserves a 9.
- ivo-kaznacic
- Oct 23, 2010