Battle of Neretva (film)
Battle of Neretva (Serbo-Croatian: Bitka na Neretvi, Битка на Неретви) is a 1969 Yugoslavian epic partisan film. Written by Stevan Bulajić and Veljko Bulajić, and directed by Veljko Bulajić, it is based on the true events of World War II. The Battle of the Neretva was due to a strategic plan for a combined Axis powers attack in 1943 against the Yugoslav Partisans. The plan was also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive and occurred in the area of the Neretva river in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
| Battle of Neretva | |
|---|---|
US film poster | |
| Directed by | Veljko Bulajić |
| Screenplay by | Ratko Djurović Stevan Bulajić Veljko Bulajić Ugo Pirro English Version: Alfred Hayes |
| Story by | Stevan Bulajic Ratko Djurovic |
| Produced by | Steve Previn |
| Starring | Yul Brynner Sergei Bondarchuk Curd Jürgens Sylva Koscina Hardy Krüger Franco Nero Orson Welles |
| Cinematography | Tomislav Pinter |
| Edited by | Vojislav Bjenjas |
| Music by | Vladimir Kraus-Rajteric English Version: Bernard Herrmann |
| Color process | Eastmancolor |
Production companies | Bosna Film Jadran Film Kinema Sarajevo Radna Zajednica Filma Igor Film Eichberg-Film Commonwealth United Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Kinema Sarajevo (Yugoslavia) International Film Company (Italy) Columbia Film-Verleih (West Germany) American International Pictures (US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 175 minutes 126 minutes (English Version) |
| Countries | Yugoslavia Italy West Germany United States |
| Languages | Serbo-Croatian Italian German English |
| Budget | $12 million |
Battle of Neretva is the most expensive motion picture made in the SFR Yugoslavia. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the year after Sergei Bondarchuk (playing the role of Martin in Neretva) won the honour for War and Peace. The score for the English-speaking versions was composed by Bernard Herrmann. Its soundtrack was released by Entr'acte Recording Society in 1974. It was re-released on Southern Cross Records on CD.
One of the original posters for the English version of the movie was made by Pablo Picasso, which, according to Bulajić, the famous painter agreed to do without monetary payment, only requesting a case of the best Yugoslav wines.