Krugovi

In a war-infested country, behind the lines, a soldier on leave interferes to save the life of an innocent man from another ethnic group, being beaten by his fellow soldiers. He ends up being beaten to death instead.

20 years after the war, one finds himself thinking about who were the true war heroes. An utterly pointless act, to risk your own life in a havoc in which a human life is wasted in the blink of an eye, for someone you barely know, is something one can see only on screen. In reality, most of us are those who watch, who witness, but dare not interfere.

One man did interfere, and lost his life, seemingly pointlessly. The only child of a widowed father, with a fiancée whose life would become a sad and tragic story of a drifter afterwards, and the gang of murderers sentenced to ridiculously short sentences. Was it worth it, are good deeds worth it in general? There's an ironic English proverb saying that no good deed goes unpunished. But the story tells that even a rock thrown in water makes circles that grow and spread. In this case, circles of compassion that go through space and time and inspire many. Circles that help us find inner courage to stand up to injustice, that help us find the compassion to restrain us in revenge upon the innocent.

This film was inspired by a true story. The story of Srđan Aleksić, a Serbian soldier on leave who was beaten to death in 1993 by his fellow men, while trying to save Alen Glavović, an innocent Muslim civilian, who was being beaten before him. Out of the four rascals, only one expressed regret in the court. Ironically, he was the only one to meet death shortly, within a couple of months, shot on the front line, where all four were sentenced to. Srđan's father wrote in his son's obituary "He died fulfilling his human duty".

The circles that the rock of Srđan's deed made are those which eventually made him the only war-hero respected and cared for on all the opposed sides. What strikes me most were Christ's words that "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Those circles keep showing us that such deeds of the greatest love are possible and were made by a man who had lived among us, and who never lived to see his family growing and his children being born, unlike us, the silent witnesses, who take so much pride in love we feel and share.

The names are altered and the rest of the story is entirely fictional. Being a person from the region, there was little in the film for me not to be fully understood and grasped. Therefore, I am somewhat reluctant to recommend it to worldwide audience, fearing if its universal message would break through the local context it took place in. But I do. Here is an excellent, slow and heavy Serbian drama with little action, much dialogue and fine acting, telling us the aftermath of a well known story, and circles of compassion, forgiveness, courage and inner purification.

R.I.P. Srđan Aleksić 1966 — 1993

Summary says it all. This is one of best movies I have ever seen, and masterpiece of Serbian cinematography. It's really well done technically, and not revealing everything until very end, but giving hints all way along about why characters are acting the way they do. It slowly raises history, revealing one event that scarred all for life.

It's based on true story of Serbian soldier in Bosnia during wartime, and it follows characters to present day, showing how incident in Bosnia haunts them. Movie is pretty hard to watch, because of very thought of situation. It gets emotional at some points, where characters finally leave history behind, or do something that honors the memory of incident. This movie also shows global atmosphere during Yugoslavian civil war, pretty much pointing out that ordinary people did not want to wage war. It has subtle cinematographic effects, revealing more than there is to plain sight.

As a person who likes movies, I will leave criticism and reviews to people that are paid to do that. However I will recommend this movie as a must-see to everyone reading this.

Amazing... Just... Amazing... This movie is an absolute good. One of the best Serbian movies ever. Srdan managed to make an even better movie than Klopka (which I thought is going to be very hard). I actually can't decide what is more amazing - music, cinematography, story or acting, and I can't decide that because everything is f**king INCREDIBLE! Everyone should see this film.

It's about what a single (nonselfish), heroic act is capable of doing to other people, and weather it can make a difference. The movie is based on a true story, but it only uses it to raise some big life questions.

A DEFINITE MUST SEE. (I'm not kidding, watch this movie)

Krugovi (Circles) is one of the best Serbian movies of last decade. It is inspired by heroic death of young Serbian soldier Srdjan Aleksic (Marko in movie), who saved life of Muslim during Bosnian civil war and was killed by his comrades. Question which leads movie is: Was it for nothing? Does it mean anything to people? This movie itself is an answer on this question.

Movie depicts people that are 12 years later still in front of this tragedy. Father of victim is rebuilding the church stone by stone. Church is removed due to building a new hydro-power central and he is using the same stone to build it on the top of the hill. Question is: Is it worth? Cinematography here is beautiful. Friend of Marko that didn't do anything to help him is victim of his conscience. Questin is: How to live with it? Fiancé of Marko left Bosnia and Herzegovina and tries to move on, but it is far from easy. Son of one of murderers has to find a way to live with his father's crime and to rebuild the church together with Marko's father. As he is trying to help it seems he is just spoiling. Haris, whose life Marko saved, lives in Germany with wife and two daughters and on the anniversary of Marko's death is in situation to "pay his debt".

At the end all protagonists got answers and we could feel it. We didn't need words to explain situation. As in real life sometimes word are redundant, incapable.

I highly recommend this movie. It is emotional, but never pathetic; ethical, but never moralistic; inspiring, but not pretentious; abounds with symbols, but never confusing.

And one question for the end: When circles will reach us?

If this film were a state of mind, it would be that sense of comprehension before inhaling your last breath. If this film were an emotion, it would be the weeping of an abandoned child. If this film were a person, it would be one reeling due to great loss. Still, it is all of these, and more – it is about liberation. The camera-work takes us around in circles - the clear Hercegovan sky, the clinical void of a Belgrade hospital, the barrenness of western capitalism. We are reminded that life gives no more than what is put in. But also, this film is about balance, about loss of son and gain of father, about deliverance through goodness and imprisonment through evil, and about setting things right in order to be able to take in air again. Could it be that this work of art is finally (after 20 years, from 1993-2013) giving us a chance to atone for endorsing fratricide, if by nothing but by conceding to it? Serbs must exonerate themselves to be able to resume living in the homeland. As for us Yugoslavs, perhaps can finally exit the circle of remorse for the demise of our land and find some redemption and peace of mind.