The Battle of Kosovo

I watched this film whilst taking a course on the Byzantine Commonwealth, as it depicts one of the most important battles in Balkan history as Byzantium verged on collapse and the Ottomans were gearing up to dominate the region. I watched the English-subtitled version obviously because I am an Amerikanka who doesn't speak Serb-Croatian.

This film is commendable because the acting is very solid, and the film overall is not overly dramatized; in other words, it has a very realistic quality to it. It was filmed on the Serbian fortress of Smederevo, which was the site of a defeat of the Serbs further in the 1450's as the Ottomans pushed northwards following the Battles of Maritza and Kosovo.

Apparently this film received funding from Milosevic back in 1989, but it is in no way nationalistic, nor does it try to fabricate events for the sake of embellishing the plot. There are few reliable historical accounts of the actual Battle of Kosovo, and the film does a good job of sticking to the main points; a few subtle side plots are apparent that contribute to some of the greater themes in Serbian history (ie. the conversion of certain Serbs to Islam in order to curry favor with the Ottoman occupiers).

This is a great film for anyone studying medieval Europe, the Balkans, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, or historical resistance to attempts at occupation.

"The Battle of Kosovo", 1989 TV film is, of course, completely fictitious account of an historical event - a battle which took place in the Kosovo Field six centuries ago, between Ottoman Empire military and military coalition of central and south European Christian kingdoms and principalities. However, it was produced with very specific purpose and intent in extremely precarious times for Serbia and Yugoslav union: as media centerpiece for ethnic mobilization of Serbs in Serbia and around Yugoslavia prior to the war of the 90's.

Film itself was produced as a part of the centennial celebration of this historic battle, which took place exactly 600 years ago to 1989. Central event, which attracted audience of over a million Serbs, most of whom came from Serbia proper, was held on June 28 1989 on an open meadow known as Gazimestan at Kosovo Field, a battle historic site near city of Pristina - today capital of Republic of Kosova, at the time Yugoslav autonomous province in grave turmoil already for entire decade, which culminated in unlawful stripping of provincial autonomy by Serbian political establishment just year or so prior to film release and anniversary celebration. Gathering at Gazimestant peaked, and is today remembered for, with then-president of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, notorious Gazimestan Speech.

And like Milosevic speech and gathering itself, movie too gained its notoriety among researchers and wider public outside Serbia as an example how media, and art in particular, got involved assuming an ominous role in social and political justification of constitutional breach, one that led to Socialist Republic of Serbia absorption of the province and later into its preparation for soon to erupt wars and ethnic cleansing, masterminded and steered by political and military leadership of this former republic, with Slobodan Milosevic at its helm, and which ensued just two years later and raged for entire decade, taking lives of hundreds of thousands, mostly non-Serbs, and livelihood and dignity of a millions of people including countless Serbs.

In that sense numerous researchers and historians, even in Serbia among more progressive intellectuals and critics, often place "The Battle of Kosovo" into "propaganda film" category, or more broadly, into Serbian wider pre-90's war propaganda effort in preparation for what was coming around the corner.

And since it certainly fits the bill, this piece of propaganda film can be and is perceived as Serbian version of "The Birth of a Nation" or "Triumph of the Will", only executed with much, much less talent and with little if any wider influence on development of art of filmmaking. Though, like both of these anthological master-pieces, "The Battle of Kosovo" too provides some poetical and visual appeal, depending on taste, and like both "The Birth of a Nation" and "Triumph of the Will", despite some obvious and palpable qualities, it was too immersed into deep controversy.

Unfortunately, however, with its narrations, poetics and imaging in portrayal of an "old enemy" and intruding "Other", the "Turk", film was extremely efficient in stimulating regressive identity atavisms, by signaling and directing viewers emotional reactions toward the "New Turk" of the age: Bosnian Muslim -Bosniaks and Kosovar Muslim -Albanians. As such it had enormous and undeniable influence on perpetuation of hatred and myth-making, while encouraging rise of new wave of Serbian ethno-nationalism, ethnic and social mobilization which will explode into vengeful war campaigns against this perceived new "old enemy", despite obvious anachronism, just two years later, between 1991 and 2000, with horrible and tragic consequences.

It is weird to be writing the first review for a movie. But it is a must for this movie to have a review. It is urgent because the topic of this movie is nothing short of the biggest controversy in Balkan politics and Balkan history. The co-called Kosovo myth, a reconstruction of events regarding the battle of Kosovo in the conscience of the Serbian people that to a certain degree differs from the historic version, has been used and abused by Serb and foreign politicians alike.

On one hand, the legendary sacrifice of Kosovo and the unswerving refusal to accept any foreign army on Serbian land has been used by generations of Serbian politicians (not just the most recent ones) to plunge the Serbian people into unwinnable wars out of which the Serbs always emerged with horrific casualties (most blatantly during WWII). On the other hand, in the most recent such war, the anti-Serb political elements in the world have used the Kosovo myth to demonize and discredit the Serbian nation, by equating it with a campaign of conquest and making it the sole explanation of why these conflicts (carefully nurtured during the communist era) happened in the first place.

In this movie, the Kosovo myth is shown in all its glory unclouded by its subsequent abuse. The concept is simple. What is a king to do when a far more powerful army, and that of a completely different faith, comes crashing in? Does one accept the given offer to bow down to the mighty Turkish army or does one fight at all costs? Being that the Christian faith embodies not bowing down to tyranny, defending ones beliefs to death and quite simply doing what is right rather than what is convenient, the Serbian king makes the same choice that Jesus once made.

An earthly kingdom, based on wordly considerations such as power, money, force is always of finite duration (just ask the Romans), but a heavenly kingdom is for all times. In other words, the might=right equation, quite explicit for medieval times and even nowadays still lingering, is turned upside down. Even at the cost of defeat, Serbs reject these wordly values and fight to the death. In other words, they put their money where their mouth is. The Serbian gleeful self-sacrifice is as puzzling to modern day Europe as the initial Christian sacrifice was to Romans. The legacy of Kosovo is evident today and has been experienced by every Serb generation for the last 200 years.

The movie "Boj na Kosovo" overflows with beautiful poetic dialog and words of wisdom. It is imperative to find a version with good translation. The palette of characters is quite varied. We see all the archetypes: the stoic and unswerving king, the cowardly political opportunist and betrayer, the hesitant dukes, the heroic knight who knows what must be done the following night, the young priest yearning for understanding from his elder, the knowledgeable surgeon who through lack of appreciation of his skill has no choice but to defect to the other side, the young wife grieving over her soon-to-be-dead husband in battle, the peasantry who is simply between rulers, the hapless dying sultan who did not expect that day of battle to be his last, the gleeful Turkish soldier/convert of Serbian origin, and last but not least the conniving younger brother murdering the weak older brother to inherit the throne. In each interaction one sees sparks as different viewpoints collide with each other.

The pacing in the movie is very nicely done. The tension before the battle slowly builds, very much in the fashion of High Noon. As characters and their resolves are solidified many conflicts are inevitably bound to happen. The dinner scene before the battle exudes solemnity and violent conflict within each individual as well as the climactic verbal showdown between the accusing traitor and the accused hero. As the hero says, the following day is when it becomes apparent for all time who is who.

The movie does have a few minor weaknesses. The battle scenes do leave something to be desired. And the movie can't help but become a little bit melodramatic towards the very end. But the movie nevertheless stands as one of the great jewels in the legacy of Serbian cinema. For many reasons and on many levels.

Rating 9/10

Scale: 10 MASTERPIECE, 9 Excellent, 8 Good, 7 OK, 6 Adequate, 5 Average, 4 Mediocre, 3 Poor, 2 Bad, 1 HORRIBLE

Kosovo is not a country! This is Yugoslavian movie, Serbian to be precise! Please before you are posting something do your research and post true fact! Thank you!

Let's start with Simovic's play. It's ingenious. You can see that he's inspired by past events and that his feelings are honest. Every Serb should find something to learn out of it... I don't expect for the foreigners to find it as interesting, but Serbs should find every aspect of the script ingenious, no exceptions. There are some that claim that this movie is not based on historical facts... It isn't, it's based on a play, and play is based on epic literature. Learn to live with it. This script delivers a strong message to every Serb world wide... Directing? Sucked. Camera is bad. Budget is as low as water supply in Sudan. This movie deserves a higher budget and a better director. I respect Sotra for what he is, but he ain't a kind of director for this movie, if you know what I mean. If you're a Serb, or if you're interested in Serbian history, this movie, along with Drina March is just the one for you. Try to ignore the terrible camera work.