1992 film
We Are Not Angels (Serbian: Mi nismo anđeli, Ми нисмо анђели) is a 1992 Serbian comedy film[1] directed by Srđan Dragojević that became one of the most popular films of the 1990s in the region of the former Yugoslavia.[2] The plot revolves around an Angel (played by Uroš Đurić) and a Devil (Srđan Todorović) fighting for the soul of a Belgrade playboy Nikola (Nikola Kojo) who is unaware that he impregnated a high school student named Marina (Milena Pavlović) during a drunken one-night stand.
Plot
An Angel and Devil observe the residents of Belgrade, trying to influence their actions and betting over them. Among them is a 20-year-old playboy, Nikola, a literature student who has already slept with almost half of the girls in the city. On one occasion, he gets so drunk that he forgets he spent the night with an otherwise very unremarkable and unattractive girl, Marina. Unbeknownst to him, she became pregnant. Since Marina does not want to have an abortion, her friend Buba tries various tricks to make Nikola fall in love with Marina. When he finally learns about the pregnancy, he tries to persuade Marina to have an abortion, but she refuses. In the end, Marina gives birth to a baby girl, Sofija, and Nikola has to take responsibility and be with her, and realises, to his shock, that his daughter may one day become a 'victim' of seducers like him. Satisfied with the outcome, the Angel concludes that he won the bet.
Production
The movie was shot during fall 1991 using the production capabilities of Avala Film. The making of the movie coincided with the beginning stages of the disintegration of Yugoslavia that included continual ethnically motivated incidents in the breakaway constituent republic of SR Croatia that culminated in the Battle of Vukovar. Since the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) was involved in the conflict, it was conscripting young men for battle thus many of the film's male crew members, including director Dragojević, received military call-ups. According to Dragojević, in order to avoid the draft, they resorted to sleeping in different apartments most nights during the movie's shooting.[3]
Dragan Bjelogrlić was supposed to portray the Angel, but he refused the role and it was given to artist Uroš Đurić.[4]
Release and reception
The film was lauded by critics for its inventive direction, tight editing, urban humour and its large number of pop culture references. Its commercial success and later cult status, however, could be at least partially attributed to specific circumstances at the time of the film's premiere. Namely, before the film reached theatres, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was put under UN sanctions, thus depriving local theatres of Hollywood blockbusters. Many local films, including We Are Not Angels, filled that void and had great commercial success. In 1996, the members of the Yugoslav Board of the Academy of Film Art and Science (AFUN) voted this film the ninth best Serbian movie in the 1947–1995 period.
Legacy
The Yugoslav Film Archive, in accordance with its authorities based on the Law on Cultural Heritage, declared one hundred Serbian feature films (1911–1999) as cultural heritage of great importance on December 28, 2016. We Are Not Angels is also on that list.[5]
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