Maratonci trce pocasni krug

It is a pity that in spite of it's greatness, the movie is very sensitive to translation ... of language and socio-political environment.

In the magic of the Yugoslav eighties, this film was like something you will never have seen before. The sense of humor those guys had is incredible, comparable only to greatness like Mark Twain, Jaroslav Hasek, Monty Python, in their best years.

Please do also see "Ko to tamo peva" (from two years earlier, same scriptwriter&director).

And remember, if at first you don't succeed.. do yourself a big favor and watch the movie again. Then if you still don't like it, do yourself a bigger favor still and go see 'Airplane II'(also same script,writer&director..) and forget about Serbian comedy.

10/10

Maratonci trce pocasni krug was the first play that 23-year old drama student Dusan Kovacevic wrote. The plot is based on the story about the youngest member of the Topalovic family, which is in the coffin-making business for more than a century. But the youngest member doesn't want to live this kind of life-he wants to marry the mafia boss' daughter and to live the life of an artist, since he is impressed with the movies (this all happens back in the year 1935). But, the mafia boss tries to use him to destroy the opponents - the Topalovic's themselves. This is the shortest possible plot of the best movie ever made. I have seen this movie for over 20 (yes, twenty!!!) times and I think there is not a single person in Serbia that didn't see it. This is the best (and the hardest one to make) kind of movie - it's a comedy without a single moment of triviality. If you were not a habitant of the former Yugoslavia, the names of the actors probably mean nothing to you. But these actors are incredible! They are absolutely hilarious and are the reason for outstanding popularity of the movie. Almost every phrase used in the movie became a part of the usual conversation of the people here in Serbia. I know you probably aren't convinced and still think that The Godfather or Gone With The Wind are the best movies you will see in your lifetime. And I would probably have to agree if there wasn't for that one little movie made 20 years ago in Serbia.

Few Serbian films stand up to the standards expected from the Western cinema, but this one cannot be overpraised: everything that's already been said here is true, and then some! A masterpiece in the purest sense of the word.

If re-watchability of a film is one of its major qualities, than this film beats any other that I know of: you can watch it dozens and dozens of time without ever getting bored - it's so funny& profound at the same time.

If you're a Serb, than you certainly already know this film by heart: if you are not, and are intrigued by this praise= by all means try to find it. I hope there is a good translation of its dialogue somewhere, because a lot depends on a quality rendition of the nuances of the actors' words.

This is probably the best film in in serbian cinematography, so far. As a matter of fact Yugoslavian Film Academy ranked it number one in the first century of film. Since it was released it has become the definitive cult movie in Serbia. The cast is great, many of highly respected serbian actors took part in the movie. The script is great, and some lines are hilarious (such as Billy Piton's). The script is based on well-known play by Dusan Kovacevic.

With no hard feelings, because there are many great films in the history, but this one should be absolute No.1 Although I regret almost everyday for I was born in this part of Europe, I am blessed to be a native speaker, so I can enjoy movies like this completely. I watched this masterpiece more than 300 times. Characters from this movie are the true heroes in all ex-Yu countries, scenes and comments from this movie you can see in everyday life, on TV, hear on radio stations, because each and every sentence from this movie became legendary. Thanks to all the legends who made this movie, hope they rest in peace, cause unfortunately most of them passed away.... I am not sure when we will have a bunch of such extraordinary actors again...