In January 1943 during WWII , Yugoslavian partisans are facing German and Italian troops . German Army afraid of Allied invasion of Balkans, launched great offensive against Yugoslav Partisans in Western Bosnia , as these one battle for freedom . The only way out for Partisan forces and thousands of refugees was the bridge on the river Neretva. The name Neretva, of the film's English title The Battle of the River Neretva or The Battle of the Neretva, is a name of Illyrian origin, and is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic Sea basin and is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia.
Big budget war movie contains thrills , emotion , historical events and impressive battles with a cast of thousands . However , lost continuity with excessive cuts . This movie's massive budget was personally approved by then Yugoslav president Tito. It was the first of the Yugoslav World War II film productions that were sponsored by the Yugoslav Government State and with funds provided by fifty-eight Yugoslave state . Very good main and support cast such as Yul Brynner as Vlado , Hardy Krüger as Col. Kranzer , Franco Nero as Capt. Michele Riva , Sylva Koscina as Danica , Orson Welles as Chetnik Senator , Curd Jürgens as Gen. Lohring ,Anthony Dawson and director Sergey Bondarchuk as Martin . At the time of its production, this was the most expensive film ever made in Eastern Europe ,outside the Soviet Unión . This movie was originally released at 175 minutes but was reduced by its US distributors to only 102 minutes when released in America. Atmospheric cinematography by Tomislav Pinter , though to need a good remastering . Evocative and military musical score by the classic Bernard Herrmann , Hitchcock's usual composer . Great production design and breathtaking outdoors . To shoot a railway bridge being blown-up, the movie's director, Veljko Bulajic wished to do it for real as it would, he believed, act as a tourist attraction after the shoot. A full-scale replica railway bridge was built in Jablanica and blown up but the smoke from the blasting prevented any visible and usable shots. The bridge was then repaired, re-built for a second time, and blown up again with the same result. Finally, to capture the bridge being blown up, a small-scale miniature model was used. The motion picture was regularly directed by Veljko Bulajic, including excessive cuts and some scenes with no sense . It was the most expensive Yugoslav movie ever made and taking sixteen months in production to shoot and complete.
The picture was based on historical deeds , these are the followings : The Battle of the Neretva was a World War II battle launched by the Nazis and running between January and April 1943 in the environs of the River Neretva, Herzegovina, then Nazi German occupied Yugoslavia. The Battle was code-named Fall Weiss and was named after this neighboring Neretva River. The battle was a combined Nazi strategic plan involving Axis Allies Italy, Croatian Ustasha (Croatian Revolutionary Movement) and Chetniks (Serbian Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia) units to wipe out the Yugoslav Partisans from German Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. The battle of Neretva is also known as the Fourth Anti-Partisan Offensive; the Fourth Enemy Offensive, as well as The Battle for the Wounded.
