Koreni

Incredibly high rating for such a static and boring series. Old-fashioned, with unrealistic cofusing dialogues, few exciting moments for the actors, but all in all a waste of time.

I must have been hard to make TV adaptation of such a great and deeply meaningful Serbian novel as the Roots are. Howevever, the amazing job has been done by the crew. The author have caught personal drama of each and every character developing them to perfection. Serbian society of late XIX century and before is depicted honestly and vividly using occasionally dark tones, which were masterfully crafted in the whole atmosphere. Music is beautiful and acting is superb. Furthermore, it is evident that every single word of of the plot has been carefully chosen and matched into this cruel, but at the sime time deeply touching and emotional story. Roots have found their way.

Koreni (The Roots) is an adaptation of Dobrica Cosic's novel of the same title. It is a drama/thriller piece set in the late 19th century Kingdom of Serbia containing elements of political intrigue, patriarchy, family issues, serfdom and conflicts between local and central governments. It is a series that explores human emotion and behaviour during this period focusing on the main protagonist Ashim Katic (fantastic execution by Zarko Lausevic): head of the family and village chieftain who has an overbearing presence and conservative values, and his two sons Djordje (stunning performance by Igor Djordjevic) who resorts to drinking because he can't live up to his fathers expectations and with his beautiful wife Simka (played by the wonderful Sloboda Micalovic) has marital problems, the second son Vukashin is Achim's younger son and perhaps dearest who has just returned to his home village for the first time in 3 years after completing his studies in Paris, who falls in love with the daughter of his fathers political opponent. I disagree with some of the negative reviews that claim it's boring and complain about filming angles, I mean sure it's not Hollywood blockbuster production standards but the psychological drama, excellent acting and great script is what makes this so good to watch. If you only care about cinematography there are much better films out there like Orson Welles: Touch of Evil or Stan Kubrick's: Space Odyssey which are great films. Koreni is also a great tv series as It transports the viewer to a time in the Kingdom of Serbia when traditional family values were important, when a man gave his word he stood by it, when a man always paid his dues otherwise his family name would forever be tarnished and disgraced, a time when it was shameful if a woman could not bear any children and a time when the only respect that you cared about gaining was your fathers, the head fo the family.

The plot is pointless. Its essence is to take a bunch of unlikable characters and then create as much conflict between them as possible. Most of the story seems forced and unpersuasive, and there is nothing in it beyond the omnipresent unpleasantness. Elements of the plot have to do with politics and social issues, but they are never flashed out, and remain only as a confusing background. Furthermore, since this is an adaptation, there are bits and pieces of the story which are only hinted at, but never developed. Thus, the audience can't always understand the motivation of the characters, or even figure out the relationships between them in full. If you like a story in which characters seem to compete in how nasty they can be towards one another, watch this. But even then you will end up feeling empty. There is simply no point to any of this. I would also like to point out that the writer of the book this series is based on, Dobrica Cosic, is, in my opinion, a very bad writer, whose work I have no respect for. In "Koreni", he demonstrates his ineptitude by imagining that abuse constitutes good drama, or substance. It doesn't. Shouting, screaming, weeping, and fighting, in and of itself, does not equate good writing. What great truths does this book reveal about the "Roots" of modern Serbian society? None whatever.

Koreni have a rating of 8.6? Well that's really unrealistic. Several camera positions in the same location, directing and everything else do not deserve it. From me maximum 4.