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Redemption Street

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Wikipedia article




'Redemption Street' is a 2012 Serbian political thriller directed by Miroslav Terzi. The film's screenplay was co-written by ore Milosavljevi and Nikola Pejakovi with input from journalist Filip varm.

It premiered on 13 March 2012.

Plot



Duan Ili (Gordan Kii), employed at the Serbian state prosecutor's office, gets a top secret case to investigate a war crime committed during Yugoslav Wars by a disbanded paramilitary unit. He manages to find Miun (Uliks Fehmiu) who's the only surviving witness.[http://www.blic.rs/Zabava/Vesti/302558/Ekskluzivno-Pogledajte-trejler-iz-filma-Ustanicka-ulica Ekskluzivno: Pogledajte trejler iz filma "Ustanika ulica"];'Blic', 20 January 2012

Cast



* Gordan Kii as Duan Ili

* Uliks Fehmiu as Sredoje Govorua a.k.a. Miun Duvnjak

* Rade erbedija as Vrane

* Petar Boovi as Grbavi

Production



The movie's producer is Gordan Kii through his production company Kombajn Film. He reportedly turned to 'Ustanika ulica' after trying, and ultimately failing, to secure financing for two previous projects film adaptations of Marko Vidojkovi's 'Kande' and Biljana Srbljanovi's 'Beogradska trilogija'.[http://www.vreme.com/cms/view.php?id=1039614 ivot u sat i etrdeset minuta];'Vreme', 8 March 2012

The filming of 'Ustanika ulica' started on 13 April 2011 and wrapped up on 4 June with 42 shooting days in total on locations in Belgrade, Vojvodina, and Golubac.

Reaction



Watching 'Ustanika ulica' prompted screenwriter and former film critic Dimitrije Vojnov into posting a scathing blog entry on the recent state of contemporary Serbian cinema and Serbian movie audiences' viewing habits, while also reviewing 'Ustanika ulica' itself. He's of the opinion that Serbian film theatre audiences have been conditioned into rejecting ambitious and well-crafted cinematic projects, referring to it as a "crisis of reception on the part of Serbian audiences" and blaming it on "years of being submerged in the residue of Serbian anti-films that mock any film form or standards". He thus expressed concern that 'Ustanika ulica', "a movie that doesn't pander or resort to sensationalism, will be ignored by the audiences much like similarly ambitious and well-executed Dejan Zeevi's 'Neprijatelj' was last year".[http://dobanevinosti.blogspot.com/2012/03/ustanicka-ulica-odjeci-i-reagovanja.html USTANIKA ULICA - odjeci i reagovanja];dobanevinosti.blogspot.com, 16 March 2012

Critical reception



The film received mixed reviews.

Writing for web magazine Popboks, ore Baji opines that "despite being promoted as a provocative political film, it's hard to imagine 'Ustanika ulica' generating any kind of political discussion", adding: "Yes, there are politics in this movie, but they've largely been marginalized and pushed to the side. Additionally, the film's politics have downright been rendered inconsequential by the screenplay gaffes". He further praises Miroslav Terzi's direction and Fehmiu's portrayal of Miun/Sredoje, but has big problems with the "film's second-rate screenplay that seriously erodes its overall credibility", saying: "It's hard to believe such an ambitious film even went into production with a script full of glaring dramaturgical oversights and uneven parts, including one unbelievable and unnecessary coincidence, forced parallelism, numerous naivets, mishandled characters, two-bit dialogues..."[http://www.popboks.com/tekst.php?ID=8812 Bura u ai vode];Popboks, 13 March 2012

Along similar lines, Dubravka Laki of 'Politika' praises the film's polished look ("brings American movies and television crime dramas to mind") and atmosphere in addition to Terzi's directorial skills as well as director of photography Miladin olakovi's camera work, while having issues with the film's wider context and its screenplay. She disapproves of the "way the screenwriters divide Serbs in two groups by pinning the war crimes guilt squarely on Serbs from outside of Serbia, while absolving Serbs from Serbia of everything". Furthermore, she feels the screenplay is the movie's weakest link as it "contains script gaffes, dramaturgical oversights, as well as far too many coincidences, parallels, and arbitrary decisions, even occasional naive characterization with several characters completely mishandled".[http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Kritika/filmska-kritika/Pao-naredbodavac-Dubravka-Lakic.sr.html ];'Politika', 15 March 2012

'Blic's Milan Vlaji concludes his review by calling 'Ustanika ulica' a "refreshing event that's worthy of careful viewing in the pretty precarious contemporary Serbian cinema". Before that, much like other reviewers, he singles out the director Terzi, cinematographer olakovi, and actor Fehmiu for praise while criticizing the screenplay "whose arbitrary coincidences undermine the story's believability".[http://www.blic.rs/Komentar/Kultura/313489/Oko-osinjeg-gnezda-Ustanicka-ulica-reditelja-Miroslava-Terzica Oko osinjeg gnezda: Ustanika ulica reditelja Miroslava Terzia];'Blic', 23 March 2012

References




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