The Axis gathered 127,000 soldiers and over 300 airplanes against 18,000 soldiers of Yugoslav National Liberation Army(partisans) with only one goal, to destroy partisan HQ and kill or capture the partisan leader Tito. I live in Bosnia that was part of Yugoslavia and here we used to take some things granted when it comes to WWII movies that were made in former Yugoslavia. Most of us who are now age 30 and above, remember the history lessons from our schools when we had to learn all about the Axis offensives against partisans. Regarding Sutjeska (the movie), the first choice for director of this movie was Veljko Bulajic who directed the Battle of Neretva, however he gave up on the project since he disagreed with the producers and even with Tito. Veljko Bulajic did not want to make a movie that would varnish the history and turn a partisan defeat(both moral and tactical) into a total victory.
Director of Sutjeska Stipe Delic acted as a craftsman and directed the movie as ordered by the regime. The photography in this movie is outstanding and most of scenes were shot at authentic locations. Characters are well played by at the time standard A class Yugoslav actors. Richard Burton plays Tito, just for the sake of the foreign audiences. The battle scenes are very realistic and even up to modern standards and together with amazing scenery and already mentioned photography make this movie worth watching .
The movie does show critical moments from the actual battle, and is fair enough to show that escape of the partisan HQ was possible only if certain units (whole partisan brigades) were sacrificed to the Axis.It is true that breakthrough was made easier because certain partisan commanders disobeyed direct orders and kept antitank guns and mortars, symbolically presented in this movie by characters played by Ljubisa Samardzic and his sidekick.
Regarding the portrayal of the Axis soldiers in this movie, it is realistic, they are showed as the cold blooded, sadistic killers and they actually got orders to behave like that before the battle.
Again, too bad that this movie lacks certain amount historical integrity and it could have been shot by more inspired director. Hence, if you are to watch this movie consult Wikipedia, search for "Fifth enemy offensive" or "Sutjeska offensive" get informed about real historical events and then press play on your remote control unit.
Director of Sutjeska Stipe Delic acted as a craftsman and directed the movie as ordered by the regime. The photography in this movie is outstanding and most of scenes were shot at authentic locations. Characters are well played by at the time standard A class Yugoslav actors. Richard Burton plays Tito, just for the sake of the foreign audiences. The battle scenes are very realistic and even up to modern standards and together with amazing scenery and already mentioned photography make this movie worth watching .
The movie does show critical moments from the actual battle, and is fair enough to show that escape of the partisan HQ was possible only if certain units (whole partisan brigades) were sacrificed to the Axis.It is true that breakthrough was made easier because certain partisan commanders disobeyed direct orders and kept antitank guns and mortars, symbolically presented in this movie by characters played by Ljubisa Samardzic and his sidekick.
Regarding the portrayal of the Axis soldiers in this movie, it is realistic, they are showed as the cold blooded, sadistic killers and they actually got orders to behave like that before the battle.
Again, too bad that this movie lacks certain amount historical integrity and it could have been shot by more inspired director. Hence, if you are to watch this movie consult Wikipedia, search for "Fifth enemy offensive" or "Sutjeska offensive" get informed about real historical events and then press play on your remote control unit.