With no hard feelings, because there are many great films in the history, but this one should be absolute No.1 Although I regret almost everyday for I was born in this part of Europe, I am blessed to be a native speaker, so I can enjoy movies like this completely. I watched this masterpiece more than 300 times. Characters from this movie are the true heroes in all ex-Yu countries, scenes and comments from this movie you can see in everyday life, on TV, hear on radio stations, because each and every sentence from this movie became legendary. Thanks to all the legends who made this movie, hope they rest in peace, cause unfortunately most of them passed away.... I am not sure when we will have a bunch of such extraordinary actors again...
17 Reviews
Going another round
matjazpihler28 November 2004
It is a pity that in spite of it's greatness, the movie is very sensitive to translation ... of language and socio-political environment.
In the magic of the Yugoslav eighties, this film was like something you will never have seen before. The sense of humor those guys had is incredible, comparable only to greatness like Mark Twain, Jaroslav Hasek, Monty Python, in their best years.
Please do also see "Ko to tamo peva" (from two years earlier, same scriptwriter&director).
And remember, if at first you don't succeed.. do yourself a big favor and watch the movie again. Then if you still don't like it, do yourself a bigger favor still and go see 'Airplane II'(also same script,writer&director..) and forget about Serbian comedy.
10/10
In the magic of the Yugoslav eighties, this film was like something you will never have seen before. The sense of humor those guys had is incredible, comparable only to greatness like Mark Twain, Jaroslav Hasek, Monty Python, in their best years.
Please do also see "Ko to tamo peva" (from two years earlier, same scriptwriter&director).
And remember, if at first you don't succeed.. do yourself a big favor and watch the movie again. Then if you still don't like it, do yourself a bigger favor still and go see 'Airplane II'(also same script,writer&director..) and forget about Serbian comedy.
10/10
Unique, high up on the pedestal
Andrei_Ciprian14 March 2005
There is a set of movies that leaves me absolutely speechless, actually to be more precise, unable to find superlatives to describe their true genius. It's the case of Wong Kar Wai's Fa Yeung Nin Wa or Ron Fricke's Baraka or Theo Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day. Those films have absolutely nothing in common as related to topic, genre or style yet they represent lonely peaks in a desert of movies that can not raise up to their stature. It's one of those movies that keeps you breathlessly clinged up to the end, and I am not talking about suspense. When it is over, you will exclaim: "I've never seen anything like it". Even viewed for the tenth time, "the marathon family" will produce a breeze of freshness, exquisite humour(that western people usually don't appreciate...) and astonishment. The metaphor reveals itself towards the end, in an accelerated rhythm - war between brothers and the fall of a nation, also lamented by Kusturica in Underground in a similar humourish yet bitter fashion. I give it a definite ten (10). Chapeau Bas!!!
Masterpiece and Cult movie!
sleepery28 April 2002
I guess there is no any younger Serb who does not know at least one sentence from this movie. This movie is simply the cult. Dialogs and acting are so great that many phrases from this movie are already became part of modern serbian language.
Kovacevic's script is even better then original play. He and that entire generation of actors and moviemakers, have influenced our lives and perception so greatly. The movie is also very educational, it pictures time and mentality of small serbian town during 1930's, better then any other movie.
And finally whole story just never fades away: five generations of Topalovic's are 'crying' because their oldest member and founder of their funeral company, 156 year old Pantelija, has died...
I just worship this movie!
Kovacevic's script is even better then original play. He and that entire generation of actors and moviemakers, have influenced our lives and perception so greatly. The movie is also very educational, it pictures time and mentality of small serbian town during 1930's, better then any other movie.
And finally whole story just never fades away: five generations of Topalovic's are 'crying' because their oldest member and founder of their funeral company, 156 year old Pantelija, has died...
I just worship this movie!
A Prophetic Serbian Six Feet Under -- and a Masterpiece
Bili Piton5 September 2001
The Serbs say this is the best Serbian film ever made, which I think underestimates it -- it may be the best film anyone made in the 1980s. Released in 1982, when Yugoslavia was a functioning state, rather than international shorthand for murder and genocide, it casts a baleful look backward that becomes, in the light of all the subsequent blood, almost unbearably poignant and prophetic. It would be too much if it weren't constantly, brutally laugh-out-loud funny -- funny even in subtitles, funny as slapstick and deeply classically comic at the same time.
It is set in the 1930s in a backwater small town in Serbia, where the Topalovic family has its funeral home.. Topalovic women "fade away like flowers" immediately after bearing a boy while the men live on and on -- creating the Marathon reference in the title. In an effervescent scene we meet six generations of Topalovic men, each one of whom mercilessly beats and bullies the younger ones. The film centers on the youngest, the tall and none-too-bright Mirko, lover of movies and Cristina, piano player at the town's movie house and daughter of the local gangster Billy Python, who supplies the Topalovic home with used coffins dug up and emptied of their previous occupants.
The action revolves around three events: the death of the very oldest Topalovic, the desire of Mirko's imbecilic, cowardly and conniving father Lucky to break up the Mirko-Cristina affair and -- and this is resoundingly delicious -- the arrival of sound film in the town, putting Cristina out of a job.
The writer, Dusan Kovacevic adapted the script from his own play, and director Slobodan Sijan gets an amazingly good ensemble cast of actors to run the machinery in high gear, flat out. It starts dark and gets darker with crematorium jokes ("the wave of the future"), vintage silent Yugoslav film commercials and clips, and slides, laughing more and more wildly, into violence that flies out of control The tie to what happened to Serbia only a few years later spins the movie up another level. That the tie is not accidental is underlined by the opening sequence -- newsreel footage of the assassination in France of the King of Serbia in the early 20s. The wonderful musical theme, raucous and melancholy at the same time is by Zoran Simjanovic. You don't know me, but do yourself a favor and see this one.
It is set in the 1930s in a backwater small town in Serbia, where the Topalovic family has its funeral home.. Topalovic women "fade away like flowers" immediately after bearing a boy while the men live on and on -- creating the Marathon reference in the title. In an effervescent scene we meet six generations of Topalovic men, each one of whom mercilessly beats and bullies the younger ones. The film centers on the youngest, the tall and none-too-bright Mirko, lover of movies and Cristina, piano player at the town's movie house and daughter of the local gangster Billy Python, who supplies the Topalovic home with used coffins dug up and emptied of their previous occupants.
The action revolves around three events: the death of the very oldest Topalovic, the desire of Mirko's imbecilic, cowardly and conniving father Lucky to break up the Mirko-Cristina affair and -- and this is resoundingly delicious -- the arrival of sound film in the town, putting Cristina out of a job.
The writer, Dusan Kovacevic adapted the script from his own play, and director Slobodan Sijan gets an amazingly good ensemble cast of actors to run the machinery in high gear, flat out. It starts dark and gets darker with crematorium jokes ("the wave of the future"), vintage silent Yugoslav film commercials and clips, and slides, laughing more and more wildly, into violence that flies out of control The tie to what happened to Serbia only a few years later spins the movie up another level. That the tie is not accidental is underlined by the opening sequence -- newsreel footage of the assassination in France of the King of Serbia in the early 20s. The wonderful musical theme, raucous and melancholy at the same time is by Zoran Simjanovic. You don't know me, but do yourself a favor and see this one.
pure genius!
dogstar6661 September 2003
Few Serbian films stand up to the standards expected from the Western cinema, but this one cannot be overpraised: everything that's already been said here is true, and then some! A masterpiece in the purest sense of the word.
If re-watchability of a film is one of its major qualities, than this film beats any other that I know of: you can watch it dozens and dozens of time without ever getting bored - it's so funny& profound at the same time.
If you're a Serb, than you certainly already know this film by heart: if you are not, and are intrigued by this praise= by all means try to find it. I hope there is a good translation of its dialogue somewhere, because a lot depends on a quality rendition of the nuances of the actors' words.
If re-watchability of a film is one of its major qualities, than this film beats any other that I know of: you can watch it dozens and dozens of time without ever getting bored - it's so funny& profound at the same time.
If you're a Serb, than you certainly already know this film by heart: if you are not, and are intrigued by this praise= by all means try to find it. I hope there is a good translation of its dialogue somewhere, because a lot depends on a quality rendition of the nuances of the actors' words.
great film
Cveja15 April 2000
This is probably the best film in in serbian cinematography, so far. As a matter of fact Yugoslavian Film Academy ranked it number one in the first century of film. Since it was released it has become the definitive cult movie in Serbia. The cast is great, many of highly respected serbian actors took part in the movie. The script is great, and some lines are hilarious (such as Billy Piton's). The script is based on well-known play by Dusan Kovacevic.
the best movie in the world...ever!!!
zzzzz-121 June 2003
Maratonci trce pocasni krug was the first play that 23-year old drama student Dusan Kovacevic wrote. The plot is based on the story about the youngest member of the Topalovic family, which is in the coffin-making business for more than a century. But the youngest member doesn't want to live this kind of life-he wants to marry the mafia boss' daughter and to live the life of an artist, since he is impressed with the movies (this all happens back in the year 1935). But, the mafia boss tries to use him to destroy the opponents - the Topalovic's themselves. This is the shortest possible plot of the best movie ever made. I have seen this movie for over 20 (yes, twenty!!!) times and I think there is not a single person in Serbia that didn't see it. This is the best (and the hardest one to make) kind of movie - it's a comedy without a single moment of triviality. If you were not a habitant of the former Yugoslavia, the names of the actors probably mean nothing to you. But these actors are incredible! They are absolutely hilarious and are the reason for outstanding popularity of the movie. Almost every phrase used in the movie became a part of the usual conversation of the people here in Serbia. I know you probably aren't convinced and still think that The Godfather or Gone With The Wind are the best movies you will see in your lifetime. And I would probably have to agree if there wasn't for that one little movie made 20 years ago in Serbia.
This is the cult master-peace of Serbian cinema
perica-4315120 July 2018
This movie has witty dialogue that is memorized in its entirety by many fans across the Balkan region. While much might be lost in translation, this movie is such a hit, artistically and such a gem of a cult classic, that it is well worth a watch for anyone interested in the Serbian and Balkan culture. It is also extremely original, but since you need to understand a bit about the mentality of the people whom it mocks some of the best parts might go over your head. You should see it nevertheless.
Laki is a little bit nervous!!!
sunny-7316 June 2000
This movie was my first movie. I have one anecdote about this movie. As a child it wasn't allow me to see whole movie, ( my parents says that is because of ticklish scene where two people make love ). I was mad, really mad, I had to leave the room behind the scene, and after that father call me to watch the rest of the movie. But I didn't watch the movie, I was only thinking what was it, what was it...( they never told me what was it, I find out myself ). The movie is classic, and it is appropriate to say that this movie is the best Serbian movie ever made. I think that most of the people in Serbia can agree with me. "Laki is a little bit nervous" was phrase of Billy Piton, and I think that everybody knows that phrase like they was born with those few words.
This movie is for watching all the time. Can not be boring. Every time when I watch movie,I see some new expression, and again and again... Zoran Radmilovic is dead but his spirit is still alive here in my heart, and in hearts every man and woman who loved this movie and the other performances of Zoran Radmilovic.
This movie is for watching all the time. Can not be boring. Every time when I watch movie,I see some new expression, and again and again... Zoran Radmilovic is dead but his spirit is still alive here in my heart, and in hearts every man and woman who loved this movie and the other performances of Zoran Radmilovic.
Rare and Good.
SameirAli29 July 2021
"Maratonci trce pocasni krug"
duhovniiscjelitelj14 September 2021
Without the slightest doubt: The best film ever made on this planet. The film was made in the former state of Yugoslavia in the Balkans (where the most witty people in the world traditionally live). The film's story is unusual, innovative and infinitely witty, the plot is extremely meaningful, all and sundry actors are the world's top actors (including supporting roles). Anyone who has not seen this film at least once in their life has not seen anything. This is the kind of film that all the world's acting academies and universities should study. The Absolute Alpha and Omega of Cinematography.
enjoyable
gubacs223 June 2005
yes this is a great and unique piece of film making very original with good acting and directing. because of the poor translation i didn't understand all of the jokes and i am sure that i miss some good ones. all in all this movie is great but far not flawless. my vote is seven because of the lack of lovable characters(there aren't any )the figures presented in this movie are very one-sided.this makes the film hard to like not like Kusturica's movies. anyway i recommend the film to those who likes eastern-European movies and loves grotesque films don't watch this film if you like warm, emotional (i mean positive emotions) films with heroes and with character development
Best Serbian movie!
mikikg-1253824 May 2021
This is one of the funniest movies ever recorded, and you can learn something from it. It's not classic comedy that will just make you laugh, this movie has quality and political background. Acting is on highest possible level. Masterpiece.
A true classic
richkiel17 October 2021
A dark comedy with notes straight out of a film noir. A story filled with unpleasant, yet likeable characters, and a storyline that relentlessly goes towards a tragic and unavoidable end. These people cannot escape their fate, and can only play their roles until the bitter end. But it's all told through a narrative that is humorous. I gave it 9 out of 10 because I never found the ending satisfying. The ending had to be dark, it was clear from the start of the film, but could have been more emotionally satisfying. Otherwise a very well written, directed and acted film featuring the best cast Serbia had at the moment of filming. Also, there are some hidden gems for those who are into film history, as part of the film has to do with early cinema and amateur filmmaking in the 1930s.
Not the very best of Serbian cinema, but entertaining
mercoledi-286-9755247 February 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Coming from Croatia, I am very much familiar with Serbian cinema. Serbian humor is very much appreciated throughout the former Yugoslavian republics, and this movie is one of the prime examples of it. For those of you not familiar with it, well you're missing on a lot. Unfortunately, a lot of it depends on language so if you're not acquainted with Serbian language and culture, a lot of the jokes will not seem so funny. What is even more disappointing for an average European or American viewer, not being properly introduced to a specific laid - back Balkan mentality can also constitute a huge obstacle in understanding many nuances and sides of this and many more movies, filmed throughout the Balkan peninsula. Well, what can you do? I guess that's life. Somebody gets to live in a secure and prosperous geographical region, while somebody else gets to live in a war zone for hundreds of years. Hey, at least you get to have a specific sense of humor. That sure makes it right, doesn't it? Its like with the African Americans. They have been slaves for 300 years, but they have completely taken over the NBA in the last couple of years. See how God takes care of everyone? Lets get back to the movie ( another example of Balkan mentality is inability to focus on what you are doing ). It tells the story of an interesting, all - male family of morticians ( the oldest member of the family is 150 years old ). The youngest family member is somewhat on a crossroad, since he feels neglected and wants to take his part of the company and marry a local mobsters daughter. This mobster is actually a sick bastard who provides the family with coffins. You see, all they do is dig out the old used coffins and sell them as new ones. It is the way their company "operates", but recently they invested in a brand new cremation unit they are dying to test... What bothered me with this movie is that many scenes felt a bit too obvious, something which many people seem to neglect. Sometimes I had the impression that the writer forced some situations because he needed room for one or two jokes he came up with and wanted to use them no matter what. One of those situations is at the very beginning of the movie, when the youngest mortician measures a dead man and mentions that the man now has an extra measure. He wants to see how "long" the man is ( instead of how tall ) in order to "produce" a fitting coffin. Bogdan Diklic is a great actor, but somehow i felt that this scene was so obviously set up like this just because the writer wanted to say that we shouldn't talk of dead people as being tall but as being "long". The ending is also a bit predictable. Diklic's rage piles up to that point and early on in the movie it becomes obvious that the only possible way for this movie to end is a carnage. Nevertheless, you should still be able to enjoy it since it is abundant in amazing jokes and interesting comedic situations. As far as I know, the script is based on a theater script written by the same author, and this is in fact pretty much evident during the movie, which is also a downside if you ask me. Still, it is an entertaining movie, but if you are really interested in Serbian or Balkan cinema at it's best you should check out some of Emir Kusturica's work.
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