Vera

Unpleasantly bad An unpleasantly bad, without any quality spy story (that it is not).

The Vera series is an absolute failure.

Why?

Everything in this series is so cheap, without anything to overcome that meager principle: no humor, no interest, absolutely no intrigue. Even the music is absolutely irritating (I guess it imitates spy movies).

Bad: script, direction, acting... So unconvincing, unmotivated and extremely shallow, from scene to scene.

The sound is extremely bad, half of the actors are incomprehensible.

The attempt to make a spy story come is a complete failure.

Imitating espionage motives is funny-sad. Sometimes, above all, it is funny, although that is by no means the director's intention.

The main actress Jovana Stojiljkovic is beyond all acting standards - bad.

One disappointing series without any qualities.

I am surprised that this work has been so underrated and I suspect it is because of the mistaken expectations with regard to its genre. Even though it is a story about a Serbian female spy set in WW2, this is not a spy thriller. It is a biopic and a critique of a deeply entrenched patriarchy in the Serbian society which is shown as a contributing factor to the main character's tragic demise. It is also an interesting piece of historical drama in the sense that it beaks all the usual moulds of representing allegiances with one of the two or three generic factions (Germans, partisans, chetniks). So far the tendency has been to show this from a position of historical presentism. Here however the notion of side-taking is more deeply problematised showing the pragmatic and more realistic aspects of how complex the array of options and side-switching during the period must have been. It is a truly ground breaking piece of storytelling and should be more appreciated. I watched the series (which was maybe a bit too long though still very watchable), but that makes me think the film is even better. I hope it reaches some of the more international platforms soon!

Overall, costumes and make up are really cheap, they do not fit the epoche of the Second World War. Women used to dress more elegant with more make up and jewlery, they wore dark lipsticks... We are taking about filthy rich nazi society, right? Some historical facts are science fiction here not proven facts. And film in color? Beside, actors did great job... Jovana Stojiljkovic is talented, but her Vera is here really naive, we do not see her heartless and magnetic character. Actress looks alike Vera, but unfortunately is too sweet and without charisma for this character. To sum up, this is not what was expected.

This series may not be the pinnacle of Serbian cinematography, but it is certainly decent. The storyline is intriguing - concept perhaps stronger than its execution, but definitely worth watching.

The fate of women in the Balkans is inherently tragic, and during periods of war and turmoil, it becomes even more poignant. This series adeptly captures and portrays this harsh reality.

Petar Zekavica delivers a masterful performance as the cold German officer. His attractiveness and charisma make him an outstanding choice for the role.

Regarding Jovana Stojiljkovic, I have mixed feelings. Although there isn't enough variability in her expressiveness, she brings depth and emotion to her roles, effectively portraying women's suffering. In a way, it seems like she consistently portrays the same character. But you ... believe her. Despite playing in a similar vein across projects, she maintains authenticity.

Viktor Savic pleasantly exceeded my expectations. Initially, I doubted his acting abilities, but he infused the screen with warmth and authenticity.

On the other hand, Zlatija Ocokoljic is an unfortunate choice for the "femme fatale" role. Her face and artistic expression don't align well with the demands of such a character.