User reviews

I would first like to say that the reviewer who calls himself mravsky has obviously misunderstood this film. This is NOT an anti-Albanian film at all. It is a film that condemns nationalism. The very proof of that is the character of Abaz, the older brother of male protagonist, who works for the Serbian police. He totally breaks with the stereotype of an Albanian, being an anti-nationalist who works for Serbian regime and scorns nationalist Albanians. Yet he doesn't feel any less Albanian. When his arrogant colleague makes a comment about Albanians calling themselves Shiptari but taking offense when Serbs call them that, he responds "No, we call ourselves Albanians".

I really don't know where the reviewer could get the impression that the director was trying to present Serbs as "cooler" than the westerners. It's obviously a case of poor interpretation. Miljaim (Trifunovic) lives in Switzerland and goes under the guise of an Italian businessman, while in reality working as an assassin for the Kosovo Albanian mob. Ergo, he is not a Serb, nor does he ever appear as cooler than anybody in the west, as there are no major interactions with western people.

Adrijana (Jokovic) is a daughter of a Serbian teacher (Samardzic) who falls for Miljaim, thinking him to be the dashing Italian businessman. At first their life together is happy, but as Miljaim makes them move around all the time, Adrijana seeks an explanation. Miljaim gives in and starts talking in Serbian, explaining who he is. Despite this, their love is too strong and they stay together. Soon however, the young couple must face consequences of their love. The title Strsljen (Serbian for "Hornet") comes from Miljaim's assassin name. As mentioned, his brother Abaz, played by the excellent Montenegrin actor Branislav Popovic, is a high ranking policeman who is trying to find out the identity of the feared Hornet and catch him before he can commit a politically-based murder in Kosovo. This builds up to a very intense climax.

Sergej Trifunovic is very good as always and very intense in the role that was meant to be just that. Mirjana Jokovic also makes a good performance and good old Ljubisa Samardzic, who by the way DID NOT direct this film, does well in his supporting role. Popovic was the most pleasant surprise for me here, because I had never before seen or heard of him and he does a helluva job in a very interesting role. Meto Jovanovski is a profiled Macedonian actor who appears briefly as Abaz and Miljaim's father who denounces Abaz and hails Miljaim as a hero.

In the end, I'd just like to say that this film hasn't a nationalistic fiber in it and its sad that it can be misinterpreted as that. Albanians are never portrayed as savage and primitive and the whole depiction of life in Kosovo is very realistic. The existence of the Kosovo Albanian mob in Western Europe is very real and well documented. To make a movie about it should not be considered anti-Albanian, even if the director is a Serb. Yet that theme is just a platform for the main theme, the difficult love story between two people on opposite sides of the conflict. I recommend this movie for everyone who likes a good film-noir thriller and also for those who are interested in the Kosovo topic. They are likely to find satisfaction in this work.

if someone even considers in saying this movie was bad then they should stick to watching Hollywood junk or something... Strsljen for me was a classic a movie you can watch over and over, the story is just excellent a naive Serbian student from the streets of Belgrade falls for a supposedly Italian businessman who lives in Switzerland... she leaves her dad and country behind for a Albanian mobster who she falls in love with but questions herself many times what she is doing.. the story twsts many times as Adriana's lover is a an Albanian mobster who kills for his boss to make a living.. After the HORNET is Serbia's police who have no clue who this person is but one of there cops who is an Albanian working for Serbs meets wif his brother at his home in kosovo and discovers that his brother is the man there looking for... a great movie with a great ending a Serbian CLASSIC which you can watch over and over and not get sick once... 5/5 cinema there hasn't been a action thriller movie even close to this from the Balkans in the past 20 years..

This film was made in 1998 during the height of Albanian-Serbian conflict over Kosovo.

First the plot is so unrealistic that it made me sick to my stomach. These things do not happen in the real life in that part of the world. So, I am sorry the film makers of this film you are outdated with this film, well it is almost 15 years since this film was made.

Acting is good. These actors really tried to make something out of this film, and for that we should commend them.

It is amazing how much has changed since this film in the political terms. Kosovo is now an independent country, it has been for more then 10 years, Serbia has no influence there at all.

Skip this film, it is not worth watching.

If you ask me i won't recommend to people who think that everyone in Serbia hates Albanian people. Actually Andrijana release that her boyfriend is from Albanian, and she accepted him. Albanian who lives in Kosovo do criminal, everyone already know that, but Serbian made movie with carters like Strsljen or his brother who want to stop criminal, that means not everyone in Kosovo are bad, like my English :) And i have to say something about acting skills of Sergej Trifunovich. He is geniuses, i love him.

Indeed a very disappointing piece of work by Ljubisa Samardzic. The charming "Borivoje Surdilovic" from some old times has let, apparently without much resistance, the recent Serbian nationalistic and anti-Albanian histeria pollute his artistic endeavor. What he produced is so cheap and sad. The film does nothing but reinforce old Serbian stereotypes about Albanians as hopeless primitives and about Serbs being totally cooler that the whimpy Westerners. Wrapped in a transparent veil of a light crime story, the only value of the plot is that some of the premeditated and stubborn-beyond-repair among the war-exhausted Serbian audience will enjoy yet another demonstration, or better "proof" of how primitive and evil those darn Squiptars are. How insensitive of you, dear Ljubisa. We used to love your warm and human, no matter how troubled characters from your early works. Even your brief role in "The Premeditated Murder", a recent film after a book by one of the best modern Serbian writers, Slobodan Selenic, was such. Ljubisa, your homeland has been through so much trouble recently. The last thing it needed is adding oil to the fire. Many side remarks in the film are offensive to Albanians. Even if some might believe that stereotypes about them are true or even entertaining, these are too subtle times to bring them up and stir the poop. You should've known better, Ljubisa.

Apart from the very strong, rather unfortunate, political overtones, the film is slow, dragging, and arduous. It just failed to capture. Whoever is acquainted with the animosity between the Serbs and Albanians, and given that the film comes from the Serbian camera, could've predicted just about every next scene in the movie. The attempt to mix in a little Romeo-Juliett romance between the two youths from the opposing groups was weak at best. The film was just too political. The acting, apart from Ljubisa's, his movie daughter's and the bad villain's, is quite bad. A thumb down. Sorry.