Table Of ContentVlastimir Sudar’s book is the most ambitious and 
comprehensive attempt thus far to bring into bold 
S
A PORTRAIT  relief Aleksandar Petrović’s role as a world class  U V I C
film artist, political dissident, and a major figure  D R O
T
OF THE ARTIST  in bringing about the Yugoslav new film or black  A R P E
film period of the 1960s and early 70s. Using an  R D A
N
A
innovative and updated version of auteur theory as  S
AS A POLITICAL  E K
a major strategy of film analysis Sudar discovers  A L
and persuasively articulates four basic thematic  A K O F 
R
DISSIDENT political paradigms (both implicit and explicit) that   P W O
D 
cut across all of Petrović’s major films. His analysis  O A N
E 
issc foupreth oefr r deeleevpaennte sdo ubryc ae  rmeamtaerrkiaalbs—le hvaisrtioertiyc aaln, d  RT H E LIF
T
biographical, cultural, and political—that he  R
critically brings to bear to substantiate and provide  A
I
a context for his film analysis. The paradigmatic 
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THE LIFE AND WORK OF  themes that Sudar teases out of Petrović’s films   
O
are themes as relevant today as they were then. 
ALEKSANDAR PETROVIC     F
They offer intriguing opportunities for comparative   
T A PORTRAIT 
VLASTIMIR SUDAR studies of Petrović’s films with those of politically 
H
inspired film directors from other Eastern European 
E
countries at the time as well as more recent   
In the liberal West as in socialist Yugoslavia,  filmmakers who attempt to deal with inter-ethnic  A OF THE ARTIST 
R
the films of Aleksandar Petrović dramatize how  relationships, societal marginalization and anti-
T
enforced dogmatism can corrode any political  dogmatism in religion and politics. 
I
system. A case study of the oft-overlooked  Daniel J. Goulding, Emeritus Professor, Oberlin  S AS A POLITICAL 
College T
Yugoslav director’s colourful and eventful career, 
 
A
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident 
Vlastimir Sudar’s study of the films of the late  S
DISSIDENT
explores how Petrović developed specific political  Serbian film director Aleksandar Petrović is a   
A
and social themes in his films. A response to the  valuable addition to the still relatively small amount   
P
political vagaries of his time, these anti-dogmatic  of information in English about this award-winning 
O
views were later to become a trademark of his  film maker’s career and his place as a prominent 
L
figure, both in the history of the cinema of the 
work. Although interest in socialist Yugoslavia  I
former Yugoslavia and in international cinema  T
and its legacy has risen steadily since the 1990s,  I
of the 1960s and 70s. Though Sudar rightly  C
the history of Yugoslav cinema has been scarcely 
concentrates on Petrović’s films of this period, he  A
covered, and this book marks a fresh contribution  provides detailed information about the director’s  L
to a burgeoning area of interest. life and overall career, together with careful analysis   D
of his major films, both for their aesthetic value  I
Vlastimir Sudar teaches film history and theory at  S
and their, often controversial, social and political 
the University of the Arts London content, which he characterises as consistently  S
I
“anti-dogmatic”. His book should take its place  D
beside Daniel Goulding’s Liberated Cinema as an  E
indispensable contribution to the history of East  N
and Central European cinema. T
Graham Petrie, Emeritus Professor,  
McMaster University
VLASTIMIR SUDAR
intellect | www.intellectbooks.com
A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident: 
The Life and Work of Aleksandar Petrovic´
Vlastimir Sudar
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First published in the UK in 2013 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2013 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2013 Vlastimir Sudar
Portraits of young Aleksandar Petrovi´c on the front cover by Bogoljub 
Boba Jovanovi´c, used by kind permission of the artist.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, 
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or 
otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Cover images: Bogoljub Boba Jovanovi´c
Cover designer: Holly Rose
Production manager: Jelena Stanovnik
Copy-editor: Michael Eckhardt
Typesetting: Planman Technologies
ISBN 978-1-84150-545-9
Printer Bell & Bain, UK
With thanks to
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to my mother and father, in memory of a time and place that we have lost…
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Table of Contents
Figures    xi
Acknowledgements   xiii
Notes on Language  xv
Introduction   1
Chapter 1: Beginnings   13
1. 1. The State   15
1. 1. 1. Early Cinema in Serbia and Yugoslavia   15
1. 1. 2. Socialist Yugoslavia and the Creation of a National Film Industry  18
1. 2. The Artist  20
1. 2. 1. Early Years   20
1. 2. 2. The Years of War   21
1. 2. 3. The Young Filmmaker   25
1. 3. The State and the Artist   28
1. 3. 1. The Belgrade Circle of Critics   29
1. 3. 2. The First Love – Communism   31
1. 3. 3. New Wave   33
Chapter 2: Shoulder to Shoulder   43
2. 1. An Invitation from Vicko Raspor  46
2. 1. 1. Shoulder to Shoulder   47
2. 1. 2. Flight over the Swamp   49
2. 2. Raspor and Petrovi´c: Rise and Fall   52
2. 2. 1. Petar Dobrovi´c   53
2. 2. 2. The Only Exit   54
2. 3. Reclaiming the Experience   57
2. 3. 1. The Roads   57
2. 3. 2. The War on War   60
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident
2. 4. First Films, First Problems    62
2. 4. 1. Two   62
2. 4. 2. Days – the Premise   66
2. 4. 3. Days – the Confl ict   69
Chapter 3: Art as an Inquiry   81
3. 1. Two New Documentaries  85
3. 1. 1.  Exposing the “Invisible”   85
3. 1. 2. The Record on the “Invisible”   86
3. 1. 3. The Legacy of Luis Buñuel   89
3. 1. 4. “The Invisibles” Assembling   90
3. 2. Three: Things “Invisible” in the War   95
3. 2. 1. The Atmosphere at Avala Film   95
3. 2. 2. The War Themes and the Prose of Antonije Isakovi´c   97
3. 2. 3. Adapting Isakovi´c    98
3. 2. 4. The Film Three    99
3. 2. 5. Personal History Against the Offi  cial Myth    101
3. 2. 6. Three – the Reception   110
Chapter 4: The Artist as a Feather Collector   119
4. 1. The New Direction   122
4. 1. 1. Petrovi´c Focuses on the “Invisible”    122
4. 1. 2. I Even Met Happy Gypsies or The Feather Collectors   127
4. 2. International Recognition  128
4. 2. 1. While Travelling with the Gypsies   128
4. 2. 2. Theorising the Representations of Gypsies   138
4. 2. 3. The Reception, Success and Side Eff ects    144
Chapter 5: The Artist as an Agent Provocateur   157
5. 1. The Benefi ts of International Recognition   161
5. 1. 1. Improvisations and Bertolt Brecht   163
5. 1. 2. It Rains in My Village, or It Will Be the End of the World Soon   167
5. 1. 3. Charting the Decline, Anticipating the Downfall   168
5. 2. Limelight as Light as Feathers    177
5. 2. 1. The Reception of the Village   179
5. 2. 2. Black Film   182
Chapter 6: The Artist as Master    199
6. 1. Aleksandar Petrovi´c as the Master   204
6. 1. 1. Petrovi´c and the Whirlpool of the Decentralisation Debate   204
6. 1. 2. Petrovi´c, Literary Adaptations and his New Film   206
6. 1. 3. Bulgakov and Petrovi´c on Art under Dogmatic Totalitarianism   209
viii
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Table of Contents
6. 1. 4.  The Master and Margarita – The Film   215
6. 1. 5. Petrovi´c’s Margarita and the Master   216
6. 1. 6. The Reception of the Master   224
6. 2. The Master and his Student   228
6. 2. 1. Against the Devil with Plastic Jesus   229
6. 2. 2. Without Reconciliation   233
Chapter 7: The Artist in Exile    247
7. 1. Exile     250
7. 1. 1. Pornography, or Living as an Artist in the West    252
7. 1. 2. Petrovi´c and Heinrich Böll   255
7. 1. 3. Group Portrait with Lady – The Film   258
7. 1. 4. Petrovi´c’s Portrait of Germany   259
7. 1. 5. Style and Reception of the Portrait   268
Chapter 8: The Artist, Migrations, and the Last Days    279
8. 1. The Return    283
8. 1. 1. Screenplays and the Theatre   285
8. 2. Migrations and the Slow Processes of Rehabilitation   288
8. 2. 1. Petrovi´c and Miloš Crnjanski   288
8. 2. 2. Rehabilitation without Reconciliation    291
8. 2. 3. Seobe or Migrations – The Film    293
8. 2. 4. Petrovi´c’s Migrations   294
8. 3. The Lessons of Migrations and the Last Days   305
8. 3. 1.  A Few Notes on Petrovi´c’s Adaptations   305
8. 3. 2. Migrations Thus Far   307
8. 3. 3. Last Days    308
Conclusion    319
Filmography   329
Bibliography   339
Index     357
ix
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