Three (1965 film)

1965 Yugoslavian film

Three

Directed by| Aleksandar Petrović
Written by| Aleksandar Petrović (screenplay)
Antonije Isaković (story)
Starring| Bata Živojinović
Kole Angelovski
Stole Aranđelović
Dragomir Bojanić
Milan Jelić
Cinematography| Tomislav Pinter
Edited by| Mirjana Mitić

Release date

* 1965 (1965)

Running time

| 80 min
Country| Yugoslavia
Languages| Serbo-Croatian
German

Three (Serbo-Croatian: Tri, Serbian Cyrillic: Три) is a 1965 Yugoslav film directed by Aleksandar Petrović. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards.[1] The script, written by Petrović, is based on the motifs of the short story collection Fern and Fire by Antonije Isaković. The film belongs to the Yugoslav Black Wave movement.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

In April 1941, the Third Reich invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The protagonist, Miloš, witnesses violent death on three separate occasions - at the beginning, during, and at the end of the Second World War. The first story takes place at a train station where, after the outbreak of the April War, mobilized members of the royal army gather and declare a photographer without identity papers and with a speech impediment a German spy and execute him. The second story shows Miloš, who joined the partisans, pursued by German soldiers. He meets a fellow partisan who, after they flee together through a swamp, sacrifices himself for him, allowing Miloš to escape. The third story takes place shortly after liberation. Miloš, now an OZNA officer, must decide whether a group of German collaborators, including a girl he is attracted to, will be shot.

## Cast

[edit]

* Bata Živojinović as Miloš Bojanić
* Slobodan Perović as accused photographer
* Senka Veletanlić as girl
* Voja Mirić as partisan
* Dragomir Gidra Bojanić as police constable
* Mića Tomić as instigator
* Branislav Jerinić as commander
* Nikola Kole Angelovski as recruit
* Milan Jelić as recruit waiting for train
* Mirjana Kodžić as woman waiting for train
* Vesna Krajina as Vera
* Zlatibor Stoimirov as lieutenant
* Gizela Vuković as woman with headscarf
* Ali Raner as young man
* Stole Aranđelović
* Laza Jovanović
* Rajko Savelić

## Themes

[edit]

The theme of the film is death from the perspective of one man, in three forms: as witness of it, as a victim of it, and as an executor.

> Three is an anti-war film. It shows the true face of war - its horrors and its absurdity. The real protagonist of this film is death. In this film, it appears in three forms - as punishment, as victim, and as an expression of the senselessness of war. One needs to be against war, but one needs to be against war as a matter of principle, against anybody who wages war, and also against those who create reasons for war.

— Aleksandar Petrović, [3]

## Reception

[edit]

A review from the New York Times from 1967 after the film's nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards reads:

> "War’s utter bestiality and waste, usually illustrated by armies, is brought into sharp focus by a talented few in “Three,” a prize-winning Yugoslav drama that treats its bleak and harrowing subject with a grim but poetic artistry. It had a showing at the New York Film Festival last year, and is now at the Studio Cinema and 72d Street Theaters. The film is mystifyingly abrupt in its transitions, but its effects, physical and intellectual, are unmistakably forceful and chilling. The director, Aleksandar Petrovic, with the aid of a sparse script and stunning photography by Tomislav Pinter, has pointed up war’s ravages as it affects one partisan’s fights in one small sector of the conflict. In each of three events he is part of, needless death brought about by fear, despair and defeat."[4]

## Accolades

[edit]

### Awards

[edit]

#### Pula Film Festival (1965)

[edit]

* Golden Arena for Best Actor (Bata Živojinović)[5]
* Golden Arena for Best Director (Aleksandar Petrović)[5]
* Critics' award "Milton Manaki"[6]

Palenka award at the Acapulco Film Festival[6]

Laceno d'oro award at the Avellino Neorealism Film Festival[6]

### Nominations

[edit]

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1966[7]

Crystal Globe for best film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1966[5]

### Festivals

[edit]

Poretta Terme International Film Festival (1966)[6]

New York Film Festival (1966)[6]

## Legacy

[edit]

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. Three is also on that list.[8]

Three was the first Yugoslav movie released in the United States (in 1966). Aleksandar Petrović's films Three and I Even Met Happy Gypsies provided the world an introduction to Yugoslav cinema.

## See also

[edit]

* List of submissions to the 39th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
2. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (2024-07-29). "Three review – Yugoslavian trilogy of tales tracks the horrors of the second world war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
3. ^ "Tri". aleksandarpetrovic.org (in Serbian). Retrieved 22 June 2020.
4. ^ "'Three,' a Yugoslav War Film, Arrives". NYT. 1967. Retrieved 2 June 2020 - via New York Times.
5. ^ a b c Three (1965) - Awards - IMDb, retrieved 2023-09-17
6. ^ a b c d e "Three – Aleksandar Petrović". 2014-01-12. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
7. ^ "1967 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
8. ^ "Сто српских играних филмова (1911-1999) проглашених за културно добро од великог значаја". www.kinoteka.org.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 2023-09-17.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website [1]
* Vlastimir Sudar: Portrait de l’artiste en tant que dissident politique: La vie et l’œuvre d’Aleksandar Petrovic (The life and work of Aleksandar Petrovic: A portrait of the artist as a political dissident – INTELLECT, Bristol, INTELLECT, Chicago 2013)
* Three at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Aleksandar Petrović

* And Love Has Vanished (1961)
* Three (1965)
* I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967)
* It Rains in My Village (1969)
* The Master and Margaret (1972)
* Group Portrait with a Lady (1977)
* Migrations (1989)

* v
* t
* e

Big Golden Arena for Best Film

As Yugoslav Film Awards
(1957–90)|

* Priests Ćira and Spira (1957)
* H-8 (1958)
* Train Without a Timetable (1959)
* The Ninth Circle (1960)
* Ballad About a Trumpet and a Cloud & The First Fires (1961)
* Kozara (1962)
* Face to Face (1963)
* Official Position (1964)
* Prometheus of the Island & Three (1965)
* Monday or Tuesday (1966)
* I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967)
* When I Am Dead and Gone (1968)
* Downstream from the Sun (1969)
* Handcuffs (1970)
* Red Wheat (1971)
* The Master and Margaret (1972)
* The Battle of Sutjeska (1973)
* Guns of War (1974)
* The House (1975)
* Idealist (1976)
* Don't Lean Out the Window (1977)
* Occupation in 26 Pictures (1978)
* Trophy (1979)
* Petria's Wreath (1980)
* The Fall of Italy (1981)
* Body Scent (1983)
* Balkan Spy (1984)
* When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
* Happy New Year '49 (1986)
* Reflections (1987)
* My Uncle's Legacy (1988)
* The Meeting Point (1989)
* Silent Gunpowder (1990)

As Croatian Film Awards
(1992–present)|

* Story from Croatia (1992)
* Countess Dora (1993)
* Washed Out (1995)
* How the War Started on My Island (1996)
* Mondo Bobo (1997)
* When the Dead Start Singing (1998)
* Madonna (1999)
* Marshal Tito's Spirit (2000)
* Slow Surrender (2001)
* Fine Dead Girls (2002)
* Here (2003)
* Long Dark Night (2004)
* What Iva Recorded (2005)
* All for Free (2006)
* The Living and the Dead (2007)
* No One's Son (2008)
* Metastases (2009)
* Just Between Us (2010)
* Kotlovina (2011)
* A Letter to My Father (2012)
* A Stranger (2013)
* Number 55 (2014)
* The High Sun (2015)
* On the Other Side (2016)
* A Brief Excursion (2017)
* Mali (2018)
* The Diary of Diana B. (2019)
* Tereza37 (2020)
* A Blue Flower (2021)
* The Staffroom (2022)
* Bigger Than Trauma (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

* The Road a Year Long (1958)
* Train Without a Timetable (1959)
* The Ninth Circle (1960)
* Kozara (1963)
* Skopje '63 (1964)
* Three (1966)
* I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967)
* It Rains in My Village (1968)
* The Battle of Neretva (1969)
* Black Seed (1971)
* The Master and Margaret (1972)
* Battle of Sutjeska (1973)
* Death and the Dervish (1974)
* The Day That Shook the World (1975)
* The Rat Savior (1976)
* Occupation in 26 Pictures (1978)
* The Man to Destroy (1979)
* Special Treatment (1980)
* Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981)
* The Smell of Quinces (1982)
* Great Transport (1983)
* The End of the War (1984)
* When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
* Happy New Year '49 (1986)
* Reflections (1987)
* My Uncle's Legacy (1988)
* Time of the Gypsies (1989)
* Time of Miracles (1990)
* The Original of the Forgery (1991)

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