Year: 1981
Duration: 01:39:58
Directed by: Vatroslav Mimica
Actors: Franco Nero, Dragan Nikolic, Sanja Vejnovic
Language: Serbo-Croatian | English
Country: Yugoslavia | West Germany
Also known as: Der Falke, El halcón, Falken, La vengeance du faucon, Nőrablás, Il Falcone, O Falcão, The Falcon, Der Falke
Description: Autumn 1388. It borders Serbia looms hordes of the Turkish sultan. Leader of one of the detachments of Turks had destroyed the Serbian people knight, leads captured his young wife, and Knight Strahinja swears revenge for all …
Some tips about Banovic Strahinja movie
1. In interview 2000, director Vatroslav Mimica said that movie is about dualistic nature of human beings and specially woman nature. Thus in movie there are two worlds depicted:christian/serbian, well ordered , ritualistic and organized on one side and muslim/turkish disordered, chaotic and wild on the other. That eternal battle between light and darkness is best seen in duel between two of main characters.Strahinja is blond pale skinned blue eyed warrior who rides on white horse and wear a shinny armor, while Alija dark toned, black armored hero who rides a black horse. They both collide in a swamp, presumably depicting the world in which we live in (movie is anyway abundant in existential comments).
2. In recent times movie is considered islamophobic by some muslim intellectual circles in balkans. This is mostly cos of their romantic view on time of islamic conquest in southern Europe. Movie actually realistically depicts how that invasion was. Impalement, rape, abduction of children (for forcing islamisation) was part of turkish rules of engagement.There are many good Bulgarian movies who depict that further.
3. This was last movie of Vatroslav Mimica, who already made two historical movies before (all of them on this site): Suleiman conqueror who depicts real events of heroic (thermopilian) defence of Sziget in 1566. by croatian ban Shubic, and Anno Domini 1573 about peasant social revolt against their feudal masters in modern day Slovenia.
4. Script and entire idea for this movie was made by Aleksandar Petrovic, most prominent Serbian film maker in communist Yugoslavian federation. However, declared as anticommunist after he make much rewarded movie “Master & Margarita”, and his student “Plastic Jesus”,both of them with anticommunist tones, script was given to Croat director (hard-core marxist) to make a movie. But Vatroslav Mimica made serious alterations. Even today there are dabates what is better: script or a movie. My most firmly and humble opinion is on a movie side.
5. Although movie is domesticaly named by serbian epic poem, for foreign public is name “Falcon”, because it was name of Petrovic sreenplay.He in turn name it because in epic poem Strahinja was called “serbian falcon”. This is a reason of falcon apearence in oppening scene & at end of english dubbed version.
6. Mimica was heavily influenced by Kurosava movies. Thus there are some parralels with Rashomon (his favorite)
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Thanks for this gritty European epic!