We have often seen Serbs as villains in Hollywood movies, be it mobsters, terrorists or war criminals. Among other things, the film "Balkanska međa" is significant because it shows them from a different angle. This is what Serbian actors Miloš Biković and Miodrag Radonjić said, who were present at the Montenegrin premiere of the Russian film held on Saturday evening at the Cineplexx cinema in Podgorica.
It is primarily a Russian blockbuster, an action film that shows how an elite unit of Russian special forces takes over the airport in Pristina, after the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army in 1999, but it also has a love plot. The main character Andrej Šatalov (Anton Pampushni) is in love with a Serbian girl Jasna (Milena Radulović) who is kidnapped by Albanian terrorists in order to use her for organ smuggling.
In front of the cinema, Biković and Radonjić were greeted by an army of fans, mostly teenagers, with deafening screams.
Addressing the media, Radonjić said that the film signed by director Andrej Volgin is important above all because it saves a historical moment from being forgotten and turns it into an experience.
"Because to the newer generations, when you say 'bombing', for them it is a word in the textbook. And when they watch the film, they have an experience of it and can somehow connect with the older generations. They can experience that moment in history and have it become part of their experience," Radonjić pointed out.
He added that since "South Wind" he has not acted in such a strong production, and that he is glad that the film has already been widely viewed.
"This is an action drama, a visual spectacle at the level of Hollywood productions, which again tells our story and presents us in a different way than how we were portrayed in propaganda films in the last 20-30 years", explained Radonjić.
He was given the role of an Albanian terrorist, but he says that it did not bother him and that while working on the film, the actors did not deal with differences in nationalities, but differences in human characters.
"In the film, I am a member of a terrorist gang, I am not a member of national affiliations. I tried to look at that role as a villain and I think that so far in my career this is one of the most negative roles in that sense that I have played. I hope it was successfully done. My role is the prototype of a villain, but I tried to give it a third dimension, to give it some personal reasons and motives," the actor added.
"Balkanska međa" is already less successful, so the day before yesterday Biković boasted via Instagram that 100 people have already seen the film, and it will be shown in dozens of countries.
The popular actor said that this success does not surprise him.
"We have strong partners in Russia - 20th Century Fox, an American company, and in London it is the Amadeus distributor that has already sold this film in over 30 countries around the world. So this film will be shown on world platforms and in large cinema chains, which is a very important thing for us, that our view of these events is also heard", the actor believes. When asked if he expects "Balkanska međa" to reach the success of "South Wind", which was a hit last year, in cinemas in this region, Biković replied that it is difficult to say.
"'South Wind' was truly a phenomenon, let him do half as much as 'South Wind' did and I will be satisfied," he said. The well-known actor pointed out that despite the sensitive subject matter and the political situation, which will surely make "Among Russians" not favorable to everyone, this film carries a message of peace. “This is a film about how terrible war is. Which carries the message of the friendship of peoples, not only Russian and Serbian, but Serbian and Albanian, which speaks of human values that stand out in war, namely friendship, love, sacrifice, feat..." Biković concluded.
Biković: I expected that some would see the film as propaganda
"Russian Border" was released at the time of the 20th anniversary of the NATO bombing, but Radonjić explained that it happened by accident.
"The idea was to release earlier, in February, but due to post-production, it was released in March. I think it even coincided nicely to commemorate that in some way with that film," he said. However, there have already been criticisms, specifically in the Croatian media, that it is high-budget Russian and anti-NATO propaganda. Biković said that such evaluations do not affect him.
"You know how, it seems to me that everything in the past 30 years has been anti-Serb propaganda. You can't make a film from your point of view without someone calling it propaganda. So I'm not too upset about it, because everyone has the right to treat this movie as they want, but what they can't dispute is that this movie has a top quality production and that all the people experienced it very emotionally when they watched it . What should I do to them, I think that such reactions are expected", he concluded.
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