The movie is a true Balkan Love story - Sex, Passion, Love, Tragedy. If you watch some of the American romantic comedies before watching Karaula, you'll see the diffеrences. And there's a second line of the story (that is a bit difficult for people outside the Balkans to understand - which is the reason for the words on the screen at the end of the film) - all the main characters are from different ex-Yugoslavian countries, but they are no different as people. So when you start watching the film you get the feeling of a happy story, maybe even comedy, but the film goes deeper and deeper. Pretty good film, makes you think. Actors are perfect, maybe because it's a true story and it's not very different from what happens in their real life. So go and watch it if you have the chance, you wouldn't regret it.
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thedevil-331 August 2007
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OK, I can't say it's the masterpiece, but surely one of the OK movies that were released in the post-Yugoslavian era. the plot: syphilis appears in the small Yugoslavian army unit on the border with Albania and a soldier-doctor is forced to visit lieutenant's wife to send her his regards, but he falls in love with her... but the main problem in this film is bad adaptation from novel of Ante Tomic to scenario... so we see a lot of lack of motivation and when the comedy is turned into tragedy we can't understand why. it had potential to be a very very good movie, but still it's very good directed. i liked using the symbols of the sea and the lake. main actor is excellent. and the end. the bloody end of one country... that is shown in a very poetic and peaceful way. the way that we'd like it happened in reality.
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tonchevm17 May 2008I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It really did capture the Balkan temper, passion and mentality. What I did not enjoy is the sudden transition to a tragic end, but nonetheless it deserves to be there. The main actor was great and there could not have been a better choice for the actress. The soundtrack was fantastic and added so much value to the movie (especially the transition to the last scene on the train), even though it contained really only 2 songs. I sometimes find myself re-watching that scene a few times. Also, the minute silence over Tito's death scene is masterful. Much props to the director for leaving me with two of the greatest scenes i've seen for a while. Overall, a must watch movie.
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goran96 November 2006Possibly the best Balkan comedy in 10 years! Masterful direction by Rajko Grlic and riveting performance by Emir Hadzihafizbegovic (without doubt the best Bosnian actor ever).
A comedy that's actually funny! Because the humor is so raunchy and scatological some people may be a bit embarrassed about entering into the spirit of this film, but I'm sure they wouldn't be able to help themselves. I roared laughing out loud and that didn't stop until the final chapter that turned into a tragedy (there is always a thin line...) This is not so much a 'political' movie as some people may believe, rather it's a story focusing on the character and mentality of people from the Balkans. Despite all problems and absurdities of soldier life on brink of war their sense of humor remained second to none. Highly recommended! 10/10 -
Gordon-1123 September 2007This film is about a lieutenant lying about an imminent Albanian attack in order to cover up his syphilis infection.
I am quite impressed by the portrayal of the army, the tough and physical side are mixed with a humorous and prank loving side. The beginning of the film is quite funny, but in the middle it turns into a drama and in the end it becomes tragedy. The story is sad and moving, but I somehow feel it lacks the substance to grip viewers. Maybe it is because I was secretly wanting an Albanian attack, the ironic fulfilment of a made up joke. This film is an interesting watch, but it is unfortunately not a masterpiece as I expected it to be. -
postman1231 January 2007I just watched this film. The story itself was explained in the others comments, so i wont focus on that. Let me just begin somewhere else. For starters, the lead actors are very beautiful, lots of sex scenes. The main actor reminds a bit on Tom Cruise from Top gun, and the lead actress a bit to Paz Vega. I predict those two, will star in Hollywood films very soon. It would probably be rated NC-17 in USA, or at least a very hard R. Especially because of the pubic hairs, lots of graphic sex scenes, penis shown etc, hard swearings...The story is good, nice and funny dialogs, great swearings. I have watched this movie on DVD, and just for the fun of it i watched it with English subtitles on, and i must say they were beautifully done. I laughed a lot there. I bet the Americans are not use to that kinda talk... Of course some of the swearing cant really be translated into English. Lets face it, we use some of the most juicy swearings in the whole world (probably). I watched the movie in the dark, lights off, and sound almost to the max. Cinematography was beautiful, DD.5.1 worked perfectly, maybe only a corny Hollywood ending would made me feel better, but if i think back on the movie, the one that is there, stands much better.
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srdjanzivanovic4 April 2006I have seen the movie and i can say that this motion picture is pure Croatian all thought money gave many all ex republics of former Yugoslavia for production of same.I know same of readers of this will think that i loved Serbian former politics but that is not true and this is not politics that i am writing about.In the movie you will see all the god and the bad things about the former homeland, beginning is full of the beauty of Yugoslavia and the end is going with the beauty of Croatian islands same can say OK it was nice but this is nice too it is far smaller but it is beautiful.OK never mind i like all ex republics but why going beck? may-bee because it was good for living? if you ask me i do not know. In my opinion the movie is great and you should see it. When the movie ended same people in front of me sad: It had to be comedy!?????.but......
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infinity2408-196-77304418 March 2021Very good and very sad drama with elements of war. Depicts the sad events that happened during the mid to late 80s on the southern Balkans when the tense crisis was going on.
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Not many movies made such a good use of stereotypes and urban myths of former Yugoslav Army. Two older guys in the story, Ljuba and Sinisa, are smarter than the rest of the lot, supposedly 19-years old conscripts (one is educated, the other is street-smart sociopath). Ubiquitous sound of so called folk music and appalling rudeness in communication are also contributing to making this movie the closest thing to actually being there. And strangely enough, not hating it.
It is a bit unfortunate that Grlic, with his incredible sense for funny and bizarre, hadn't had a chance to make more films in the past.
Still, this one almost makes up for years of his absence from the scene. -
Fantastic movie! Very funny, great actors as well as scenery! For the scene I've mentioned in the title, you have to be patient.
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azdajica14 April 2006...this is like watching some movie from Yugoslav era, it gave me eeries. Same plot as always when it comes to Yugoslav film school-everything begins with funny plot and everyone think it will end funny, too. But for people from ex-YU it is always predictable-IT HAS TO END WITH A TRAGEDY. That is how all movies from ex-Yugoslavia end. That is how ex-Yugoslavia ended its existence. Also this movie is not Croatian only, unfortunately, it is Croatian-Bosnian-Serbian-Macedonian-Albanian production. Actors did their job excellent, three main male characters were superb, female role is a little bit pale and unconvincing to any foreign viewers. Rajko Grlic did an excellent job with "Stefica Cvek-U raljama zivota", I think he should stick to urban sophisticated stories as Stefica was.
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gjirla19 March 2021... if you want to take a break from Hollywood clichés and enjoy the real treat of European, ex -Yu cinema, the film "Karaula" is just that. A top cast from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia ... teamed up to make this hit full of humor but it also gives an insight into what will follow in these region in 1990- .... (and how it was to serve 12months in army)...Highly recommended
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you must see the movie more then once,then you will get the real filling of the movie.the movie is very good also from the professional side,the photography the music everything.everything is happening by the most beautiful lake the Ohrid lake in the mountain and national park in Macedonia.the crew is perfect from Pasic to Paunovic from Mirjana to Sinisa.i m very impressed with the acting of Pasic i think it is a masterpiece.and by the way is co-production of all ex Yugoslavian republics(its not a joke)..............................................more times you see the movie it gets better.
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lisica6620 March 2006I have seen the movie on it's preshowing in Cinestar Zagreb on Saturday 18th. The movie is in my opinion - the best Croatian movie in last 15 years. In one word - MASTERPIECE!!! You must see this brilliant comedy. All credits to Rajko and Ante, and also to Emir who's acting is superb !!!!
Story plot: At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service, counting days to the moment when they should take their uniforms off for good. It is the spring of 1987 and the thought never even crosses their mind that they would, in fact, put them back on quite soon and go to war. These are the last days of the country called Yugoslavia. Yet no one knew at the time.
Daily routine of the army is disrupted by unusual circumstances. Frustrated and always drunk, lieutenant Safet Pasic feels a strange pain in his groins. He seeks help from the only doctor among the soldiers, Sinisa Sircevic, who finds out, very discretely, that it's a sexually transmitted disease. Not wishing his wife to know about it and trying to find excuses not to go home, Pasic declares a state of emergency, claiming that the Albanian army is preparing an attack against Yugoslavia. A joke transforms into war hysteria: soldiers dig trenches, Pasic grows wilder as days go by, Sinisa embarks on a dangerous liaison, and his best friend Ljuba Paunovic makes an unconditional decision to leave the army. The situation slowly runs out of control...
Speaking about not so distant past with no nostalgia and no hatred, Border Post is a comedy about people on the verge of tragedy. -
EasternMafia29 April 2009what do u know about the masterpieces' this story is a history. it is a mith. Full originality about what Yugo army was and all status of ex nations inside. I have never seen anything like it before.
You must watch this film two times to get it, and u must know something about the Croatians, Dalmatians, Serbs, Albanians, Bosnian... and about the capital cities... including about the Tito and partisan believes and fate in him.
for me this film is better 10 times than no man's land or Balkan can
only film i can name it here is Balkan express
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Decko_koji_obecava7 February 2007I've never enjoyed movie-making by a committee.
"Karaula" is a cinematic equivalent of those 1980s hammy pop-folk-rock-whatever-happens-to-be-selling-at-the-moment-that is-what-we-play Bijelo dugme clones (Merlin, Hari Mata Hari, Valentino, Plavi orkestar, Divlje jagode, Regina) - a populist, don't-you-dare-go-deeper-than-the-outer-layer, watchable but ultimately quickly forgettable experience.
It has identified a pretty wide group as its target audience and panders to it relentlessly in the most general sense possible. From the folksy screenplay full of snappy, and unfortunately often corny one-liners right down to the Halid Beslic cameo, "Karaula" plays like a checklist of movie devices and stock characters that have gone over well in the cinema(s) of former Yugoslavia throughout the last two decades:
1. Goran Bregovic music score. CHECK! (And also some Sanja Ilic added for good ethno-mood measure.)
2. Adolescent men of different (yugo)Slav nationalities spouting cheesy jokes. CHECK! (In "Karaula" they're, of course, led by a wise-crackin' Belgrade bad boy and his constantly smiling Dalmatian tag-along buddy - all of which seems lifted straight from that 'Bolji zivot' episode when Boba (Dragan Bjelogrlic) goes to the army and is entrusted with forming a multi-ethnic band.)
3. Zany supporting character with a portmanteau-like nickname and a weird character trait. CHECK! (Enter botanically-obsessed colonel Rade Orhideja who follows in the long line of Mile Rent-A-Bubregs and Bili Pitons. Unfortunately he's not nearly as funny or as memorable. According to bloggers, obviously bored out of their skull, the character of Rade O. might've been inspired by Ratko Mladic who also served in Macedonia during the late 1980s and apparently also loved flowers - all of which I guess is the closest this unremarkable film will come to generating any kind of post-viewing discussion.)
4. Lots of crass, unrefined sex scenes, used either for comic relief or as prelude to something tragic. CHECK! (Bascially any number of Yugoslav movies use both, but unfortunately unlike in, off the top of my head, "Ko to Tamo Peva or "Lepota Poroka" where sex is skilfully woven into the story, "Karaula" uses it for nothing more than cheap thrills.)
5. An out of the blue prominent (turbo)folk star cameo. CHECK! (Though "Karaula" seems to be presenting Halid Beslic with an ironic distance, his appearance is essentially no different from "Tesna Koza" or "Zikina Dinastija" stopping the plot for 2 minutes so that Brena, Sneki, Zorica Brunclik or whomever can sing their little song. Unlike "Karaula" those movies are at least honest about being populist crap.)
In summary, I really have nothing apriori against usage of any of the above as movie devices, but "Karaula" simply misses the target on all of them - and misses it badly.
The one bright spot is Emir Hadzihafizbegovic in the role of ST-diseased lieutenant. Trifunovic and the Croatian kid aren't bad either, it's just too bad both of their characters are written so sketchily and incoherently. This is especially true of Trifunovic's Ljuba who suddenly goes from a friendly simpatico smart-ass to a raging sociopathic monster within like a day with absolutely no proper justification in the script or plot. -
bobaorolicki21 April 2006after 15 years of painful waiting period for the new Real Rajko Grlic's movie, I saw Karaula last night and I was so sad and disappointed... The movie is not solid, it is to short and the energy and emotions are not distributed so well that we could feel and recognize that this is Grlic's movie... Story is nice, maybe even good, and out of this story he could not make a better movie... Sorry, either the time is changing all of us either there is something else... and also, some of the symbolic is so... well, political. with the clear political message, that was surely not expected from someone like Rajko Grlic... Anyway, I will always love his movies made before 1991.
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rinakarinaka26 September 2020Terrible acting, directing, etc. Skip it, seriously.
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kowakianmonkeylizzard13 October 2007This movie is complete waste of time. Yup. Why? Oh, boy, where should I start? Bad acting? Lousy screenplay? Fact that movie is to late?
Emir Hadziwhateverhisnameisić hated this role, he admitted it in some news interview, and that can be easily seen trough this entire move. I even felt sorry for him seeing how much he suffers acting in this movie. I doubt he faked his drinking... He is talented actor, but not even his talent couldn't make him even to try to act. I don't blame him. Sergej Trifunović is giving his best. Which means that he suck. Yup, Emir at least has talent, this poor sob doesn't... Only possible explanation why would anyone even consider him for (any) role is fact that he look like what other ex-YU nations see as a stereotypical Serb. Funny enough, Serbs see him as stereotypical Albanian... Toni Gojanović... is chosen for this role simply because he's Croat... Croatia have much better actors than him (is he an actor at all?), but he does seems to be trying, and since he's a "newb", we can look trough his fingers...
Now, take a better look... Bosniak, Serb and Croat... and voilà, you have a generic ex-YU wannabe comedy... and that's it. It tries to look at war and reasons for war trough comedy but it just fail... there is no deep background story, there is no secret agendas, there is no comedy there is no nothing.. Movie was heavily advertised here as "Movie that put together Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks in hilarious comedy" and people wanted to see trough Karaula their youths and lives in pre-1991. Yugoslavia, but most of them abandoned theater before end because they have found foreign country and foreign army with foreign people and foreign stories. Something they didn't wanted or cared to see. Macedonia is foreign to Serbs, YPA is foreign to Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats are foreign to Serbs. Famous scene at the end of movie where actors get out on stage and public isn't tapping is clear sign what public thinks about this movie.
I thought that pathetic ex-YU ethnic humor has died in 1991. And it did. This is just zombiefied version if it, and it's not funny. It's sad. Strange thing I find is the fact that only in Serbia this movie was advertised like this is 1975, like we all live in perfect "brotherhood and unity" and that war never happened. Film had financial success in all countries of former YU, except in Serbia, despite big advertising campaign. Movie entered trough big doors, but it exited through back door, quietly and shamefully. This movie is wanting to look back at last moments of Yugoslavia, it is trying to say to us that it's not our fault, that we all were seduced by "drunken and selfish" leaders, blah, blah, blah... It could make some point if it was released during 1995; 1996; or 1997; considering that war and Yugoslavia were still "fresh" and all... but in 2006, this movie just doesn't make sense...
Legacy of this movie is big. Yup, before this movie, many various EX-YU actors and directors were talking about making some new movies as homage to old partisan films... luckily, this movie showed that it would be just waste of money...
I want my 94 minutes back. -
harryplinkett1426 October 2019This is shameless anti-Serbian propaganda from beginning to end, dressed up as a nostalgic drama/comedy. And that makes it particularly nasty.
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richkiel4 August 2021Anti-Serbian tropes thinly veiled by a nostalgic plot and innocent humour. Unwatchable and utterly reprehensible.