lost in translation

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2015)

It's 1941 Belgrade. Blacky and Marko Dren are best friends partying around town. Marko enrolls Blacky into the Communist Party. The Nazis bomb and occupy the city. The guys start stealing from the Nazis and hunted as wanted men. Three years later in a rage of jealousy, Blacky goes on stage strapped to his mistress Natalija and kills her Nazi officer lover. Blacky is later shot while escaping. After the war, Marko becomes a high functionary with Tito as he elevates Blacky's heroism through film while Blacky is actually still alive. Marko keeps Blacky and others underground manufacturing weapons under the false pretense that they are still occupied by the Nazis.
There is something about this movie that seems lost in translation. It feels like there is something being said about the ethnic mix of the characters but I don't think it's clear. It doesn't explain the war in the Balkans which would be the most important aspect to explain for a movie of that time. The movie's surrealism also takes away from any realism to the all-too-real situation.