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Once Brothers
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Wikipedia article
'Once Brothers' is a 2010 sports documentary film written and directed by Michael Tolajian. It was co-produced by ESPN and NBA Entertainment for ESPN's '30 for 30' series.
The film chronicles the relationship of two basketball players from SFR YugoslaviaVlade Divac (Serbia) and Draen Petrovi (Croatia). The duo played together on the Yugoslavia national basketball team from 1986 to 1990 and were at one time close friends, but the Yugoslav Wars drove them apart emotionally, as they came from opposing sides. Petrovi died in an automobile accident in 1993 before the two could reconcile; much of film focuses on Divac's regret that they were never able to resolve their differences.
Participants in the film include: Toni Kuko, Dino Raa, arko Paspalj, Clyde Drexler, Danny Ainge, Rick Adelman, Kenny Anderson, Derrick Coleman, Bill Fitch, Larry Bird, Jan Hubbard, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Aleksandar Petrovi, Biserka Petrovi, etc.
Release
The film's first ever public showing took place on 10 October 2010 at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Two days later on 12 October it had its television premiere on ESPN.
Following a theater run in the country, the film aired on Radio Television of Serbia's channel one in prime time on Thursday, 26 May 2011.[http://www.rts.rs/page/sport/ci/story/32/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0/897468/%D0%92%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5+%D0%B8+%D0%94%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD,+%D1%98%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BC+%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%9B%D0%B0.html , ] ;RTS, 25 May 2011
Reaction and critical reception
United States
Dan Devine of the Ball Don't Lie sports blog feels 'Once Brothers' "is exactly the kind of presentation '30 for 30' was meant to producean enthralling recounting of a forgotten or underappreciated story about how sports and capital-letters Real Life interact" and sees its biggest asset, among many of them, to be "the honesty of Divac, Kuko, and Raa in discussing the emotional toll that the war took on them".[https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/BDL-Review-Once-Brothers-?urn=nba-276451 BDL Review: 'Once Brothers'] ;Ball Don't Lie, a Yahoo! sports blog, 12 October 2010Michael Tully of hammertonail.com sees the film as "being about many different things at oncea history lesson, a touching interpersonal drama, and a positive reaffirmation that the American Dream still exists and isn't a completely silly construct" and labels it "a very strong work, in which the grand scope of the Yugoslav Wars of the early 1990s is personalized through the relationshipand unfortunate falling outbetween former NBA stars Vlade Divac and Draen Petrovi".[http://www.hammertonail.com/reviews/documentary/once-brothers-film-review/ War Torn Court] ;hammertonail.com, 13 October 2010
Though mentioning the movie was "probably too long", objecting in particular to some of the childhood material about Vlade and Draen as well as to lesser extent to some of Vlade's travelogue before he gets to Croatia being included in the film, Alan Sepinwall of HitFix still thinks it "did a nice job of telling the sad story of how politics tore apart that great Yugoslavian team, and the friendship between Divac and Petrovic".[http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/30-for-30-once-brothers-vlade-and-drazen-together-again '30 for 30' 'Once Brothers': Vlade and Drazen, together again] ;HitFix, 12 October 2010
Writing for the 'Slant Magazine' blog, Jason Bellamy summarizes 'Once Brothers' as an intimate tale that paints a vast panorama, but sees its long intro as necessary because "a good number of average [American] sports fans might not even remember Divac and Petrovic, and even many legitimate NBA fans are unlikely to know much about that duo's European careers, not to mention the outline of the war in the former Yugoslavia". He concludes by opining that "though not the absolute best film in the '30 for 30' series, 'Once Brothers' might be the film that best encapsulates the kind of personal, outside-the-mainstream storytelling that characterizes the series as a whole".[http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2010/10/the-ties-that-bind-once-brothers/ The Ties That Bind: Once Brothers] ;'Slant Magazine' blog, 12 October 2010[http://coolercinema.blogspot.ca/2010/10/ties-that-bind-once-brothers.html The Ties That Bind: Once Brothers] ;'Slant Magazine' blog, 12 October 2010
David Cassilo on the 'SLAM Magazine' blog described the film as mainly being Divac's story about dealing with the division that comes between him (a Serb) and all of the Croats that were once his teammates on the Yugoslavian national team, praising it as a must-see for any NBA fan because "within the main story is the story of how an international player adjusts to the NBA. Divac and his former Yugoslavian teammates express all of the obstacles that are in the way for a foreign-born player, including style of play, language and the lack of belief by others that they could actually cut it in the NBA".[http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/10/movie-review-once-brothers/ Movie Review: Once Brothers] ;SLAM, 10 October 2010
Writing for 'The A.V. Club', Scott Tobias had mixed feelings about the movie: "For all its earnestness and nobility, 'Once Brothers' is still very much an NBA Entertainment production, following Divac's 'journey' to a conclusion that's as disappointingly precooked as a VH-1 'Behind The Music' special". He continues by saying the film has a great story, but that it's also "framed in a contrived way with Divac telling us that his eldest son, an 18-year-old, wants to know what life was like when he was his age, and so into the Wayback Machine we go". Tobias also pontificates on Petrovi's decision to sever his friendship with Divac and presents two reasonsthe one that, like Kuko and Raa, Petrovi was also afraid of the reaction back home in Croatia if he continued to associate with Divac and the other that he was genuinely offended by Divac's actions with the Croatian flag while maybe having a cause to disbelieve Divac's explanation about doing it out of loyalty to a unified Yugoslavia as both equally likely, before concluding that because Petrovi isn't around to tell his side of the story, "'Once Brothers' does feel a little unbalanced and self-serving, which is not to say Divac is being disingenuous". Tobias ends by saying the scene with Divac walking through Zagreb is the best one in the entire movie, but that it also has a problem of being "just another step in Divac's scripted road to reconciliation, which ends predictably with a casual conversation with Petrovic's mother and a visit to his friend's grave", before concluding that "'Once Brothers' has some moving scenes despite itself, but the whole production feels as spontaneous as a frozen pizzajust heat and serve".[http://www.avclub.com/articles/once-brothers,46215/ Once Brothers] ;'The A.V. Club', 12 October 2010
Croatia
in Argentina.Croatian media generally complained over Stojko Vrankovi's (another Petrovi's close friend, who, unlike Divac, was in constant contact with him throughout 1991, 1992, and 1993) omission from the documentary. It also pointed out several factual inaccuracies in the film such as the claim that this was Divac's first time visiting Zagreb and Croatia since the war when in fact he had already been there in September 2008 at which time he visited the Draen Petrovi Museum.
The reaction to the film from those in Croatia with personal ties to the topic was mixed.
Vrankovi, who suited up for Yugoslavia in four major competitions (all four with both Divac and Petrovi as teammates) and whose two seasons in the NBA overlapped with both players' time in the league, did not watch the movie. However, after having it summarized for him by Croatian journalists, he mentioned several details from the 19911992 period, which he claims ultimately led to Petrovi severing his friendship with Divac. Vrankovi specifically talked about having Divac and his wife Sneana over to his house in Boston in October 1991 (during NBA preseason when Divac's Los Angeles Lakers came to play his Boston Celtics) where they discussed Divac's flag incident from Argentina long into the night. Divac then left for Paris with the Lakers to play at the McDonald's Open where he was reportedly asked by Spanish newspaper 'As' about the Yugoslav national team's appearance at the upcoming 1992 Olympics in light of Vrankovi's and Petrovi's statements that they want to play for Croatia. According to Vrankovi, Divac's response included a feeling the Yugoslav team will stay together and a surprise at Vrankovi's and Petrovi's statements about wanting to play for Croatia since that country doesn't even exist, all of which, Vrankovi says, he and Petrovi didn't appreciate when they saw it. Still, Vrankovi claims that the ultimate falling out between Petrovi and Divac happened on 4 March 1992, when the New Jersey Nets came to play the Lakers at The Forum in Los Angeles: "Draen later told me about taking issue with something Divac did in that game. Following a matchup versus Divac, Draen fell on the floor expecting a foul and Divac stepped on him. That was the end in Draen's eyes".
Zdravko Radulovi, who had participated in two major competitions with the Yugoslav national team, 1988 Olympics in Seoul and EuroBasket 1989 in Zagreb, with Divac and Petrovi on the roster both times, revealed to have watched the film multiple times, adding: "It was a good documentary. I know Divac and I think he was very earnest about the things he said in the movie. While we were on the national team, their [Divac's and Draen's] relationship wasn't all that close. To all of us on those national team rosters, Draenwho was a bit older and had already been playing abroad in Real Madridwas an idol. I believe the two of them became close friends once they both went to the NBA at the same time in 1989 because being together made coping with life in the new world easier".
On the other hand, Franjo Arapovi, who had also represented Yugoslavia in two major competitions1986 FIBA World Championship and 1988 Olympics, both times sharing a roster with Petrovi and Divachad a strongly negative reaction to the film, dismissing it as "pure propaganda" and questioning its truthfulness by claiming "90% of the movie is a pure lie". Though confirming the national team functioned like a family, he also disputed the friendship and closeness between Petrovi and Divac: "Stojko Vrankovi was Draen's best friend. Draen had nothing with Divac".
Zoran utura, a four-time participant in major competitions with Yugoslavia (three of those coming with both Divac and Petrovi) refused to watch the movie, opining that it's "pointless, needless, and meaningless" while adding: "Personal friendships and internal relations within a sports team are a category that's very difficult to grasp and understand for an outsider, and I see no point in trying to explain them rationally. I'm not sure about the credibility of a portrayal of a relationship between two guys in a sports team, especially when one of them is very much dead while the other one is very much alive. Many things happened in the calendar of our lives since then, and explaining player relations, chemistry and circumstances that this team, which was unique in every way, functioned in is lacking common decency, especially when it's done from an American perspective".
Some of the reaction to the film in Croatia, primarily that by Franjo Arapovi as well as to a lesser extent by Stojko Vrankovi, prompted media outlets to further inquire with Draen Petrovi's brother Aleksandar, also a professional basketball player who represented Yugoslavia at four competitions (two of those with both Divac and Draen on the team), about the extent of the relationship his brother had with Divac. He said: "When two basketball masters spend five years in a national team as roommates it is very logical for them to become close friends. Draen and Vlade were great friends and I was a first-hand witness to this in 1986 and 1987 when I played with them on the national team. Now, I believe Stojko Vrankovi's comments were in reaction to the claim that my late brother and Divac were 'best friends'. Vrankovi knows Draen since they were little kids and he was very shaken up over my brother's death. All the other things are nonsense that's not worth commenting on. Draen and Divac were most definitely good friends who shared secrets, joy, despair, fame... everything. Both on and off the court. They kept in telephone contact when they were in the NBA".
Reaction to the film in Croatia continued well after its premiere. In late October 2016, on the occasion of 52nd anniversary of Petrovi's birth, 'Jutarnji list' interviewed his close childhood friend and former KK ibenka teammate Fabijan uri who brought up the movie: "Draen had four close friends myself, my brother Dubravko uri, Denis Erceg, and Stojko Vrankovi. And that's it. Everyone else trying to claim him is lying, and same goes for Divac's movie because it was only us who were Draen's true friends and if we were to make a film it would be called 'Always Brothers', not 'Once Brothers'. That movie got made and got praised, but a lot of it isn't true. Just one of many things in it that are not accurate is the whole flag thing. That wasn't why they got driven apart that was just the story for the newspapers. The real reason they fell out was the game during which they had a hustle situation going after a loose ball, Draen fell on the floor and Divac stomped on him with his shoe. Draen retaliated by cursing him out severely and that's how their "great" friendship ended. That was never a great friendship to begin with and the flag incident was never a problem between them. All of this is hurtful to us [Draen's actual close friends] because Divac is continually being presented as Draen's great friend, which isn't true".
References
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