Walter Defends Sarajevo, a 1972 partisan film, has a cult status in the countries of former Yugoslavia,[1][2] and was seen by 300 million Chinese viewers in the year of its release alone.[1]
Partisan film (Serbo-Croatian:partizanski film /партизански филм) is the name for a subgenre ofwar films made inYugoslavia during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In the broadest sense, main characteristics of Partisan films are that they are set inYugoslavia during World War II and haveYugoslav Partisans as protagonists, while the antagonists areAxis forces andtheir collaborators.[3] According to Croatian film historianIvo Škrabalo, Partisan film is "one of the most authentic genres that emerged from the Yugoslav cinema".[4]
Many film critics disagree about the exact definition of the genre.[5] Partisan films are often equated solely with the populist, entertainment-oriented branch of the genre, characterized by epic scope,ensemble casts, expensive production, and emotionally intense scenes, largely introduced into Yugoslav war films byVeljko Bulajić'sKozara (1962).[6][7] The other branch – which held less appeal to theCommunist establishment – was represented bymodernist films, ranging from the poetic naturalism of theYugoslav Black Wave toexperimentalstream-of-consciousness films.[7]
In his analysis ofFadil Hadžić'sThe Raid on Drvar (1963), Croatian film criticJurica Pavičić identifies seven key characteristics of what he calls "super-Partisan films":[8]
Focus on crucial, well-known, "textbook" examples of Partisan struggle, such as major battles and operations, which are then given an officially sanctioned interpretation.
Absence of authentic, high-profile figures of Partisan struggle, with the exception ofJosip Broz Tito. In Pavičić's view, the rationale for this was to avoid threatening Tito'scult of personality.
Mosaic structure in which sometimes dozens of characters take part, and their fate is followed throughout the film. These characters represent different classes or walks of life (intellectuals, peasants), or different ethnicities.
Mixing of the comic with the tragic.
The presence of foreign (non-Yugoslav) characters as arbiters. Their role is to witness and verify the martyrdom and heroism of Yugoslav peoples as Partisan films depict them, sending a symbolical message ("There it is, the world acknowledges us as we are").
The characteristic treatment of the Germans: although they are portrayed as villains, and are demonized in various ways, they are also shown to be superior in power and discipline, and are depicted as an efficient, sophisticated, even glamorous adversary.
Deus ex machina endings, in which the Partisans break out of seemingly hopeless situations.
Pavičić's analysis was criticized for not being universally applicable to Partisan films, and a number of notable exceptions to the above formula exist.[9] By the 1980s, economic hardship in the country, as well as change in the ideological landscape, particularly with the younger Yugoslav generation, caused a waning of interest in the genre, and the critical and commercial failure of Bulajić'sGreat Transport (1983) is usually seen as a symbolic end of the Partisan film era.[10]
^abŠakić, Tomislav (2010)."Opsada, Branko Marjanović, 1956".subversivefilmfestival.com (in Croatian). Subversive Film Festival. Archived fromthe original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved2010-10-26.
