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Montevideo, God Bless You!
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Wikipedia article
'Montevideo, God Bless You!' (; internationally titled 'Montevideo, Taste of a Dream') is a 2010 Serbian film directed by Dragan Bjelogrli about the events leading to the participation of the Yugoslavia national football team at the first FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay in July 1930. The film gained considerable media attention throughout 2010 and achieved significant box office success in Serbia since its release on December 21, 2010.[http://www.blic.rs/Zabava/Vesti/228389/Montevideo-za-tri-nedelje-videlo-100000-ljudi, 'Blic Online', January 10, 2011] The entire project has been hugely successful regionally thus far. More than 520,000 people in Serbia saw the first film, which won numerous awards.
The story is loosely based on the novel 'Montevideo, Bog te video' by the prominent Serbian sports journalist Vladimir Stankovi. He drew inspiration to write a romanticized depiction of the late 1920s Serbia and the events that popularized the game of football in the country after having watched the American film 'The Game of Their Lives'.
The film was awarded the 'Audience Choice Award' for Best Film in the main competition program at the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival. It was also Serbia's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist.
A sequel, 'See You in Montevideo', was released on January 14, 2014.
Part of the movie was filmed in the city of La Laguna, Tenerife.
Plot
In 1930 Belgrade, Yugoslavia, eleven passionate, mostly anonymous but very talented soccer players and their journey from the cobblestone streets of impoverished Belgrade neighborhoods to the formation of the national team before the very first World Cup in faraway Uruguay. So far away that the country's capital, Montevideo, seems more a distant dream than a familiar reality. Named after the city where the inaugural World Cup was held, director Dragan Bjelogrli's adaptation of journalist Vladimir Stankovi's best-selling book centers on the relationship between the two top players: natural talent and poor boy Tirke (Milo Bikovi) and playboy superstar Moa (Petar Strugar).
The two young men eventually become friends when they're thrown together on the front line of the dominant local team, BSK Belgrade. As the club hierarchy is faced with the challenge of keeping the squad afloat, the opportunity arises to create a national team. However, team unity is strained when Tirke and Moa clash over beautiful women. Rosa (Danina Jefti), the voluptuous, small-town innocent who adores Tirke, but her soccer-mad uncle conspires to set her up with Moa; and vampish Valeria (Nina Jankovi), a rich flapper who seduces Moa and finds much fun in pitting him against Tirke. The initial doubt that surrounded their personal and professional lives is transformed into a shared ambition to prove themselves in Montevideo; as a result, a story about friendship, enthusiasm, persistence and love for the game is unraveled.
Cast
* Milo Bikovi as Aleksandar "Tirke" Tirnani
* Petar Strugar as Blagoje "Moa" Marjanovi
* Nina Jankovi as Valerija, an eccentric Belgrade artist and painter, who hangs out among Belgrade's elite.
* Danina Jefti as Rosa, Tirke's love interest, who works at her uncle Rajko's tavern.
* Mima Karadi as Rajko, owner of the local tavern.
* Branimir Brstina as Bogdan Brica
* Vojin etkovi as Mihajlo "Andrejka" Andrejevi
* Neboja Ili as Boko "Dunster" Simonovi, who becomes the national team's coach later in the film.
* Nikola uriko as ivkovi
* Sergej Trifunovi as Naelnik Komatina
* Viktor Savi as Milutin "Milutinac" Ivkovi,
* Predrag Vasi as Little Stanoje, a shoeshine boy, he considers himself as Tirke's best friend, and he lives in poor conditions and has a leg deformity.
* Sran Todorovi as Bora Jovanovi
* Boda Ninkovi as Kustodi
* Anita Mani as ura
* Marko ivi as Isak
* Aleksandar Radoji as Milorad "Balerina" Arsenijevi
* Uro Jovici as ore "okica Nosonja" Vujadinovi
* Bojan Krivokapi as Momilo "Gusar" oki
* Andrija Kuzmanovi as Milovan "Jaka" Jaki
* Ivan Zeki as Ivan "Ivica" Bek
* Nenad Herakovi as Dragoslav "Vampir" Mihajlovi
* Aleksandar Filimonovi as Ljubia "Leo" Stevanovi
* Rade osi as Teofilo Spasojevi
* Milan Nikitovi as Branislav "Bane" Sekuli
* Tamara Dragievi as Eli
* Branislav Lei as King Alexander
Accolades
DVD and TV series
The movie was released on DVD during 2011.
On 1 January 2012 it was broadcast on RTS1, achieving stellar ratings with over 3.1 million viewers.[http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Dru%C5%A1tvo/1019740/Gledanost,+Bog+te+video.html Gledanost, Bog te video];RTS, 2 January 2012
The extended version of the film, including 5 hours of footage unseen in the theatrical cut, began to be broadcast as the eponymous television series on RTS starting 13 February 2012,[http://www.kurir-info.rs/stars/montevideo-za-novu-godinu-na-rts-165998.php MONTEVIDEO ZA NOVU GODINU NA RTS] ;'Kurir', 29 December 2011 and onwards weekly every Monday in the 8pm prime time slot. Nine episodes aired,[http://www.rts.rs/page/magazine/sr/story/411/Film/1038254/Serija+%E2%80%9EMontevideo%E2%80%9C+od+13.+februara+na+RTS-u.html Serija Montevideo od 13. februara na RTS-u];RTS, 2 February 2012 with the first season concluding on 9 April 2012.
The second series, titled 'Na putu za Montevideo', (season two) began on 31 December 2012, this time airing Sundays. The plot now moved to the preparations for the long trip to Uruguay. Nine more episodes were shown concluding on 10 March 2013.
In July 2013, the first series began airing in Croatia on RTL Televizija.[http://www.jutarnji.hr/projekt-od-8-milijuna-eura-prati-romanticnu-pricu-iz-30-ih-godina-u-srbiji/1112645/ Srpski projekt od 8 milijuna eura prati romantinu priu iz 30-ih];'Jutarnji list', 5 July 2013
On 3 August 2013, 'Montevideo, God Bless You!', aired on the Chinese CCTV-6 network.[http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=268&yyyy=2013&mm=08&dd=04&nav_id=739195 "Montevideo" gledali milioni Kineza];B92, 3 August 2013
On 15 January 2014, the sequel feature film 'Montevideo, vidimo se!' got released in theaters.
See also
* List of submissions to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Serbian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
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