ivo-kaznacic

Ever since he filmed his first Yugo-Western, Esalon doktora M, in 1955, Zika Mitrovic was known for this brand of post-war movies set in Kosovo and Metohija. His most complex westerns are Obracun(1962), the sequel to his better-known hit Kapetan Lesi, and Brat doktora Homera, which is different because its main character is not a Partisan officer, but an ordinary man who gets caught up in the post-war problems of his home-town.

The plot takes place in an unnamed town in Kosovo in September 1945. The war has been over for 4 months,but this town is still being terrorized by a gang of outlaws hiding in the hills. They are led by a notorious smuggler called Atanas(Pavle Vujisic)and a drunken monk Kaluder(Ljuba Tadic).

In the middle of all this trouble,in comes Simon Petrovic(Bata Zivojinovic), a former law student who spent 4 years in a German prison camp and is now back in his home town. However, there are no good news for him- his former fiancé Vera(Jelena Zigon)is now dating his brother Homer(Voja Miric), having believed that Simon died 2 years ago,and his parents are dead. Bitter and disappointed, Simon investigates the death of his father Marko, a local judge who died in a house fire allegedly caused by Hadzikosta, a petty thief he sent to jail before the war and who has since escaped to Solun, Greece. However,when an old man who promised to tell him something he saw in the fatal night is killed, Simon realizes that Hadzikosta was only a patsy and that the real killer is still in town. Captain Vuk(Jovan Milicevic), a local KNOJ officer somehow involved in the fire, Atanas and his gang are worried because of this so they concoct a plan to turn Simon into a bandit so Vuk can legally shoot him...

This film, along with the films about Kapetan Lesi, could be called the best of Zika Mitrovic.It has it all-deep characterization, complex love affairs,double-crossing villains- all the elements of a great Spaghetti Western. However, it also contains elements of a Greek tragedy, since its main theme is the downfall of Simon Petrovic caused by his lust for revenge and his misconceptions which lead him in conflicts with the new regime.

Anyways, it deserves a full 10.

After Esalon Doktora M(1955), which was his first Yugo-Western, Serbian director Zika Mitrovic made a name for himself by making his first urban crime film Poslednji kolosek a year later. 4 years later, he made Captain Lechi, his second and probably best Western film.

After his home town Prizren in Kosovo is freed from German occupation, a brave Partisan Captain Ramiz Lesi(Aleksandar Gavric in his first major role)has to liquidate the remaining local Quislings(otherwise known as Balists)who are hiding in the hills and are actively sabotaging the new regime. They are led by an experienced, German-trained soldier Kosta(Dimitar Kiostarov)and Ahmet(Rainer Penkert), the brother of the famous Captain. The film centers on Ramiz as he tries to get Ahmet out of the gang and hunt down the rest of the Balists.

Completely free of political influence, this film is great as pure fun. It has all the elements of a good American Western: a tense, complex plot, turbulent love affairs and a lot of shootouts. The acting is great,especially by the main actors-Gavric, Petar Prlicko as his clumsy companion and surrogate-father Sok,and Marika Tocinovska and Elma Karlowa,2 completely different girls whose feelings for Ramiz will have an effect on the main plot.Darko Damevski and Dusan Tadic(in his first film role)are also funny as Balists Skender and Ibrahim.

It is a pity that a great movie like this one has just one sequel, right?

After the success of Captain Lechi in 1960,naturally,a sequel was expected from Zika Mitrovic. He did that 2 years later by filming the post-war Western Obracun.

In this film,the brave Captain Ramiz Lesi gets in the middle of some wrongdoing by a rich man named Hasan-beg(Ilija Milcin) and Saban Murtezi(Abdurrahman Salja), a former comrade of Ramiz who betrayed him during the war and is now the leader of a Balist group working outside the Metohija village of Glum.Afraid that the Communist government will give his land to poor peasants,Hasan-beg pays Murtezi and his men to drive the Partisans out of Glum.In order to do so,they attack the village and massacre many of its occupants,making the Partisans send in a special division led by Ramiz.Fully aware that his young fiancé Azira(Jelena Zigon)and Ramiz have been in love for 3 years, Hasan-beg promises Murtezi permanent financial support in exchange for the murder of Captain Lesi...

In some points,Obracun is even better than its predecessor. The characterization is much more deeper here. It especially concerns Hasan-beg as a ruthless,unfeeling tyrant willing to do anything in order to maintain his land and his trophy girl Azira, Mefail,the number-one guy of Saban Murtezi(a primitive and cold-blooded bandit excellently played by Gojko Kovacevic)and his nephew Kadrija(Dragan Ocokoljic),a young intellectual forced by his uncle into the Balist group. Unlike Captain Lechi,which resembles the archetypal Western, Obracun has all the elements of a great Spaghetti Western: several intertwined stories which all lead to a tense end, complex characterizations and main characters who are mostly motivated by greed and lust.

However, this film has its weak points. Old man Sok has a significantly smaller role in this film(although it is still important), there is a plot hole which I will not reveal in this review,and the film itself is shorter than its prequel, making less room for plot twists. This is maybe the reason Mitrovic did not make any more films about Captain Lechi.

However, it still deserves a 9.