This movie based in true story, accident on secret Yugoslav nuclear reactor, will take you on emotional rollercoaster following a drama of young Yugoslav/Serbian nuclear scientists, French doctors and group of just ordinary local French people.
Even dough story pivots around an accident during a Yugoslav top secret A-bomb/nuclear weapons project it's an actually a drama about humans, their friendship, sacrifice, compassion, greed, pride and power.
Supporting role actors - they win this show for me. Local French people like Odet and car mechanic, deliver direct emotions in small amount of screen time.
Two young actors in rolls of Yugoslav scientists/students, Zivota and Radojko, put up an amazing act as they manage to convince you in real life chemistry of the two best friends. Their banter and quarrelling, depict a true image of Serbian culture of friendship and humor. Guys did a hell of the job.
Other supporting acts of Rosa, Vera are very good and convincing.
Main actors, French and Yugoslav professors, put up a needed level of act. I have a feeling there was much more to give from their side. Especially from the Yugoslav professor Dragoslav. But this is where we come to screenplay and its limitations hindering main character development.
Screenplay introduces some unnecessary stereotypes common in western cinematography, regarding communist countries in general.
This fails in case of Yugoslavia, as it renders the characters of Professor Dragoslav Popovic, Professor Savic and politician Rankovic as Soviet style communists/clerks. That's far from the truth, and takes important traits of main Yugoslav character.
Bit of history:
In real life professor Savic and politician Rankovic took a heroic and important part in WWII as one of the leaders of Yugoslav partisan resistance - the greatest and the most effective anti Nazi resistance in whole of Europe!
At the start of WWII prof. Savic as a one of the Nobel prize candidates for discovering nuclear fission (foundation principle of A bomb) will return from Paris to Yugoslavia to fight Nazis along with his sister in ranks of partisan resistance. Imagine the heroism. Nazis will murder his sister.
Politican Rankovic will lead anti nazi resistance forces, getting his wife murdered by nazis, himself tortured by Gestapo.
These guys know each other. Coming out victorious from the hell of WWII, with the goal to create Yugoslavia as strong and independent from East and West.
Keeping independence in Cold War easily leads to idea of developing A-bomb.
Prof. Savic will advocate a local Yugoslav nuclear program independent from the east and the west. Prof. Savic will be the one helping Rankovic to send injured scientists to Paris, using his French connections.
There comes professor Dragoslav Popovic, as a wonderkid promoted by Prof. Savic, a genius with ground breaking ideas how to produce plutonium from local Yugoslav ores, needed for A-bomb. Dragoslav, works in romantic era, Yugoslavia is driven by its own epic anti nazi WWII victories securing it unique place in Europe, separate to West and East. Translates to endangered by East and West. People dream of securing Yugoslavia's peace.
Have in mind this is the time when the France - todays only nuclear power in EU, was struggling to come up with technology to create A-bomb. France was secretly working on their A bomb in cooperation with Israel and Jewish scientists from the Manhattan project.
Yugoslavia was war wracked, small, poor nation, destroyed by Nazi genocide of Serbs, Jews and Roma, but still had know-how to enter the race with US, Soviets, France... Quite amazing, right! But it took tolls.
Most of scientists working on the first Yugoslav nuclear reactor were just the kids, students and graduate's. Some of them were passing their undergraduate English exams on control panels of reactor before the accident. New technology, scarce funding, it ended up with accident. Followed by pressure from both West and East to kill Yugoslav a-bomb research, research was stopped.
