SAINT GEORGE SLAYS THE DRAGON (2009)

SAINT GEORGE SLAYS THE DRAGON (Serbian: Свети Георгије убива аждаху / Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu) is a Serbian war drama film directed by Srđan Dragojević and written by Dušan Kovačević. It was premiered on March 11, 2009.
With a budget of around €5 million,[1] it was one of the most expensive Serbian film productions to date. Some of the funds have been donated by the governments of Serbia (€1.55 million) and Republika Srpska (€750,000) who deemed the movie to be of national importance.
Kovačević's script is based on his 1984 theater play that was staged to great success in Belgrade's Atelje 212 and Novi Sad's Serbian National Theatre.

PLOT:
The film starts with the Kingdom of Serbia, part of the Balkan League, battling the remaining Ottoman forces during the First Balkan War in 1912 when a Serbian force with soldiers Gavrilo and Đorđe in command is ambushed. Gavrilo is severely wounded and loses an arm in the attack but Đorđe saves him. The story then moves 2 years forward with the outbreak of World War I in 1914; namely, the crucial Battle of Cer, first allied victory in World War I. It is largely set in and around a small village by the Sava river near Serbia's border with Austria-Hungary.
The village is deeply divided between able-bodied men that are potential army recruits and the many disabled veterans from the previous Balkan Wars; there is bitter animosity between the two groups, who do not intermingle much with each other even though they live in the same village.
The movie's central theme is a love triangle between the village gendarme Đorđe, his wife Katarina and the young disabled war veteran Gavrilo who was previously engaged to Katarina before he went to war and lost his arm in battle, and with the arm partly also his lust for life. Even though Katarina married Đorđe in the meantime, she still has affection for Gavrilo, which is a source of friction between the two.
At the onset of World War I, all able-bodied men in the village are recruited for combat. Left in the village are only women, children and disabled veterans from previous Balkan wars. Rumours start circulating that the invalids in the village are trying to take advantage of the situation by making their moves on the women in the village – the wives and sisters of the recruited men. These rumours reach the villagers at the frontlines, and in order to prevent mutiny the army staff decides to recruit the invalids as well and send them to the front line. Meanwhile, the Serbian army suffers heavy losses at cer and is desperate for reinforcements. Along with the invalids, they launch a suicide assault on the Austro Hungarian lines which claims the lives of all the invalids except Gavrilo. They eventually break through the austro hungarian lines but both Gavrilo and Dorde are killed while attempting a last stand. The film ends with some villagers inspecting the dead Serbian and Austro Hungarian soldiers and find Gavrilo and Dorde lying dead next to each other, symbolising that they had finally forgiven each other.

CAST:
Lazar Ristovski – Đorđe Žandar
Milutin Milošević [sr] – Gavrilo Vuković
Radoslav Milošević – Gavrilo Vuković (before losing his left arm)
Nataša Janjić – Katarina
Bora Todorović – Aleksa Vuković
Zoran Cvijanović – Mile Vuković
Dragan Nikolić – Priest
Boris Milivojević – Rajko Pevac
Branislav Lečić – Captain Tasić
Mladen Andrejević [sr] – Teacher Mićun
Srđan Timarov [sr] – Mikan
Predrag Vasić [sr] – Vane the orphan
Bojan Žirović – Žoja
Milica Ostojić – First sister
Milena Dravić – Aunt
Milena Predić [sr] – Jelena
Slobodan Ninković – Ninko Belotić
Stefan Danailov – Minta Ciganin
Duško Mazalica [sr] – Gavrilo Princip
Dejan Zorić [sr] – Dojko Žandar
– Ferdinand of Austria
– Duchess Sophie