8.4 /10 1 Votes8.4
Directed by Miroslav Lekić Director Miroslav Lekić Cinematography Predrag Todorović | 8.4/10 IMDb Initial release 1 March 1999 (Yugoslavia) Story by Vuk Drašković | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Bojan MaljevićBojana Maljević Written by Miroslav LekićSlobodan Stojanović Based on Nož, a novelby Vuk Drašković Starring Žarko LauševićBojana Maljević Music by Toma BabovićAleksandar Milić Screenplay Miroslav Lekić, Igor Bojović, Slobodan Stojanović Cast Žarko Laušević, Bata Živojinović, Dragan Nikolić, Nikola Kojo, Aleksandar Berček Similar Better Than Escape, Battle of Kosovo, Rage, Braća po materi, The White Suit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Dagger (Serbian: Нож, Nož; which means Knife) is a 1999 Serbian war drama film directed by Miroslav Lekić. The film was written by Miroslav Lekić, Slobodan Stanojević and Igor Bojović. The plot is based on Vuk Drašković's novel of the same name.
The main motive of the film is the eventually disclosed nonsense of ethnic division in contemporary Bosnia, poiting out to the same historical origin of both opposed ethnic groups, Bosnian Serbs and Bosniaks, i.e. Christians and Muslims. Set in the 1960s and observed from the point of view of Alija Osmanović, a young Muslim medical student raised by single mother, his entire family slaughtered and his baby brother kidnaped by Serbs in World war II, as the aftermath of Jugovići (Christian) and Osmanovići (Muslim) violent family feud, he learns not only that Osmanovići were once but a branch of Jugovići family who converted to Islam during the Turkish rule, but that, unbeknownst to his mother, he himself was a baby taken from Jugoviči, after the massacre of Jugovići on Christmas Eve in 1942. Both families now extinct, and Alia as the descendant of both, torn between two cultures and two identities, he struggles to maintain his inner peace, desperately searching for his long lost step-brother and fighting the prejudices against the love relationship he has with a Serbian colleague student.
Based on true events of World War II and being centered on the atrocious crimes committed to Serbs during World War II, and the particular families of Jugovići and Osmanovići.
In 1999, the film was screened at the 13th Montenegro Film Festival, and gained five featured awards. The film also earned the “Fipresci Award” for Directing, five acting awards in the Niš Film Festival and the “Crystal Star” at the Brussels Film Festival.