Battle of Neretva (film)

Battle of Neretva
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	7 October 1969;
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 (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 is the most expensive motion picture made in the SFR Yugoslavia.^[2] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film,^[3] 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.^[4]

^ Hughes, Howard (30 April 2011). Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857730442. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via Google Books.
^ Bitka na Neretvi (in Croatian)
^ "The 42nd Academy Awards (1970) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
^ Robna kuća: Bitka na Neretvi on YouTube^{[dead link]}

[1] Hughes, Howard (30 April 2011). Cinema Italiano: The Complete Guide from Classics to Cult. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857730442. Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via Google Books.

[2] Bitka na Neretvi (in Croatian)

[Oscars1970-3] "The 42nd Academy Awards (1970) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-16.

[Robna_kuća:_Bitka_na_Neretvi-4] Robna kuća: Bitka na Neretvi on YouTube^{[dead link]}

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]