Profesionalac (2003) Online

I simply enjoyed this movie! There was never a dull moment. The plot was very fresh, interesting, and original. There was on-going laughter throughout the movie, I loved it! I could watch it over and over again.

Of course, my idea for the title of this short comment has nothing to do with the Matrix Reloaded :) For our readers and viewers outside Serbia, there is a pre-history of this movie: it is being based on the theater play "The Professional" by the same author, Mr. Kovacevic. The main role of Luka Laban has been incredulously played by the famous Serbian actor Danilo Bata Stojkovic (now deceased) and it was mostly known for his wonderful performance. But Mr. Kovacevic went a step further when doing this movie: he decided to place it in the early 2000s, after the Serbian October Revolution, what gave him an excellent opportunity to FINISH the story and make it universal - even very much actual and authentic about the present Serbia. The saying of the story is that regimes may change, but the Secret Service ("Sluzba") remains the same. Once "Sluzba" - always "Sluzba". And it perfectly fits to the post-October Serbia. The movie is highly political, even if not intended to be - it's production coincides with the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister, the assassination organized by "Sluzba". And just a sentence about the title role: I'm much in favor of Bora Todorovic's version of The Professional!

Profesionalac (The Professional), submitted by Serbia for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003, features a truly remarkable story, dealing with recent, but dramatic events in Serbia/Yugoslavia. Adapted from directors' own play, Profesionalac is one of those rare Serbian movies that can actually be understandable to foreign crowd, painting a dark, yet still optimistic portrait of turbulent Serbia of the 1990's.

Through the story of Theodore (Teja) Kraj, former writer and opponent to Milosevics regime(actor Lecic was in fact a passionate opponent to the regime at the time, so his footage on some of the documentaries seen in movie is authentic!), now days a publisher company manager, and a retired Secret Service (infamous DB) agent Luka Laban, who was on Teja's case for a decade, we learn about two major epochs in modern Serbian history.

First being the repeated attempts throughout the 1990's, by impoverished nation, drawn to a civil war in Croatia and Bosnia, exhausted by dictatorship, NATO bombing, violence and censorship...to bring down the communist/nationalist dictator Slobodan Milosevic and his cataclysmic regime. Attempts that led to eventual civil uprising were spearheaded by intellectual elite and younger generations, mostly students...Teja was a university professor, in touch with both groups(both professionally and personally). As such, he was targeted by Milosevic's puppets (ideologist, hardcore communist Laban), who, apart from ''being a professional'', had a grudge on Teja of his own.

Second one being the post Milosevic's era (brought down in 2001.) of transition and privatization, wave of closing down factories and firms, workers loosing jobs...shown in the movie through the present strike of the dissatisfied workers/possibly even supporters of the former regime (which was indeed supported mostly by older people / communists, rural population and poorly educated, lowest working class). That problem actually marked that entire period of Serbia's awakening in the 2000's.

Hovewer, despite the magnificent plot, beautifully put together through the numerous flashbacks in which puzzle is finally being put together (by Teja) when he learns the background of all his grievances in the past decade, the strongest point of this movie is an emotion.

Emotion you have to share with a generation whose youth/prime was spent in fighting with a regime, whose lives were ruined by hell-bent police officers and agents, and who sacrificed all of that, voluntarily, so those to come could live free ''...kids? Your kids are exactly why I am doing all of this...'' - Teja.

Emotion so beautifully brought to us by a superb soundtrack. Melancholic bohemian Serb mandolin, mixed with actual documentary footage, leaves a participant of the events, like myself, in tears, and others, hopefully moved.

Somewhat tragic, melancholic, but also hilarious at times, The Professional is one of those European movies you should see even if you aren't Serb...especially if you aren't Serb.

It's interesting to mention that the movie excellently fits the life-story of the main actor - Branislav Lecic (Teja in Movie).

The documentary clips in the movie are genuine. He was the leader of the student protests at the darkest time of Miloshevich (1991-1992) and at the time of making the movie, the Serbian Minister of Culture. Was he really surveyed by the "proffesionals" I don't know, but knowing the situation, probably yes.

Anyway the movie is great, and true. I have been living in Belgrade the whole time and can legitimately confirm the facts that are presented in movie are truth and nothing but the truth.

Dusan Kovacevic is author of the best screenplays in Serbian cinematography. He wrote one of the most hilarious movies ever- The Marathon Family (Maratonci trce pocasni krug, 1982) and much more. When he decided to write and direct "The Professional", placed in Serbia after the 1999's October revolution, i was a bit skeptic, thinking of this movie as of another war/love stories from Serbia's underground, violent and hard to watch (that's the best description of 80% newer Serbian movies). God, i was wrong.

Teja is the president of one of the state's companies- a newspaper. He is typical represent of the new democratic Serbia's government: lucid, educated, intelligent. He is going through a hard period in life, and the situation in his company is going worse and worse. The first 15 minutes are another successful Kovacevic's attempt to make fun of audience. Setting the start of the movie in Teja's office, focusing on daily politics, makes you think that all this movie is going to be another of the domestic trash movies you could see in past years (with a few honorable exceptions). When a strange old man in coat steps into the office, everything turns upside-down. Not taking off his coat or hat, just putting two large suitcases on the floor, Luka starts talking to Teja who soon realises that in front of him stands extremely educated man who claims to be a policeman.

One thing about Luka starts to be strange to Teja- the man he sees the first time in his life seems to know too much about him. When he asks Luka about the content of the books, old man tells him that every page of the books is about Teja. Other suitcase is full of his lost things. Luka has been following Teja for decades, writing down his every single move. Luka seems to know more about Teja's life than Teja himself. They together remember the most interesting details of their lives collecting the pieces of this movie's puzzle.

Thinking of a movie most similar to The Professional, i stopped at Burton's "Big Fish". Both movies are based on collection of flashback stories. Flashbacks in Kovacevic's movie are less fictional, but not less interesting, making you laugh at start, and cry at the end of the movie. It is impressive how a good scenario can make a low-budget movie so interesting. Professional will surely wake up emotional side of you and make you think of it a long after it is finished. A special credit goes to a beautiful soundtrack by Momcilo Bajagic. This is one of the foreign movies that should easily have blockbuster Hollywood remakes.

Interesting movie. Nice change from Emir Kusturica's movies. It covers

the life of a philosophy professor. From the mid 1980s until the year 2000

or so. From his days as an opponent of Milosevic to his post as

director of a newspaper company. All of this through his encounter with

"The Professional". This spy unravels his life. Emotional and hilarious

at times with a nice soundtrack. Before you watch the movie, try to

read about the recent history of Serbia (and Yugoslavia). From the days of

Milosevic to his downfall after the Kosovo conflict. You'll enjoy it even more!

He who didn't cry sever times during the movie and after it, was not in Serbia in the 90's. Wonderful movie, it brings back the memories, all those futile battles that were suppose to mean something for a better future but didn't. Wonderful performances by both Todorovic and Lecic. If Lecic was an USA actor I am sure he would be world wide famous. One his other masterpiece I remember is "Three Tickets to Hollywood", but in my opinion he didn't shoot enough of the good movies. Serbian cinematography is too small for such great actors. But even if you are a foreigner, you will like the movie. Plot and events that where happening in the Serbia during the movie are well explained so you will be able to figure everything out. I recommend it to anyone. If I have to put a genre on it, I would say that this is a brilliant dark historical drama with a few hilarious jokes that make the movie easier to watch.

The movie starts with Belgrade's anti-Milosevic October revolution in 2000. From the opening credits and unforgettable images of an uprising nation this is a classic movie in every single sense. The introduction of Luka a strange taxi-driver knocking people on streets and refusing passengers is hilarious from the start, but when he meets his long following target the roles are changed. Teja (Branislav Lecic) an university professor, bohemic writer, a member of Belgrade's intellectual circles and a passionate opponent of the Milosevic's regime is a manager in a big publishing house. The workers are far from happy and a strike looks very likely to happen. One day a strange visitor comes uninvited to his office carrying a big suitcase. That man is an above mentioned Luka, a former agent of Serbian Security Forces, now just an ordinary taxi driver. This is just the beginning of an amazing and most unlikely encounter. Slowly as we get to know Luka his mission was to daily shadow Teja during the last ten years, to write reports on his behavior and acts, to watch on him an follow him on even most intimate moments of his life. Step by step the last ten years of their lives are appearing, the lives of these two men with quite opposite destinies. The editing of documentary footage with live action is impressive and the almost "Forest Gump" appearances of TEJA in many of the country's memorable historic moments are raising Goosebumps. It works on many parallel levels, like a comedy, like a social drama, or just like a documentary on the dark years of one nation. Bora Todorovic is effortlessly brilliant in a role which was portrayed by late Danilo Bata Stojkovic so many times on the theater stage, and is possibly the only right substitute for this great actor. The producers together with the research team had done an unprecedented job concerning Yugoslavian cinematography maximizing all the documentary archives and the clever usage of locations an every single effort is highly rewarded. From the most unexpected situations, after the slow introduction, sometimes irresistibly comic, to the most tragic events and dark hidden war stories, rises the chronicle of one period in time. It's a history of a struggle for freedom of one nation at the end of the 20th century with a personal recognizable comic touch by Dusan Kovacevic.

It took me a long time to see this movie.Al lot of people told me that it's a good movie and that i should see it but still i wasn't very interested in it.However,after a long time i decided to see it.At first it seemed interesting than it became boring and than it once more became good.There were some good jokes throughout the movie but still those weren't enough to cover the holes in the script.I don't know.Maybe it's just me but...I simply didn't like it that much.I expected a lot more since everyone said that it's a good movie.

The acting was alright,even though it can't be compared with acting from Boris Dvornik,Bata Zivojinovic,Ljubisa Samardzic and so on...

Profesionalac is an OK movie that's maybe worth seeing.I'd rather recommend Balkanski Spijun,Maratonci trce pocasni krug,Kad mrtvi zapjevaju,Balkan express....

6/10 for a few good jokes.