Promise Me This (2007)

Director
Emir Kusturica

Main cast
Marija Petronijević; Uroš Milovanović; Aleksandar Berček; Predrag Laković; Ljiljana Blagojević

Genres
Drama, Comedy

Description
Promise Me This is a film written and directed by the award-winning Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica. An old man named Živojin Marković, living in a remote village prays for his grandson Tsane to go to the city, sell his cow and bring back a wife. In the city he is supposed to meet up with his grandfather's stepbrother, but this man is dead. Instead, he meets this man's two grandsons, two good-natured brothers who are nevertheless small-time criminals and experts in demolition. Tsane soon clicks with these men, and also falls in love with a schoolgirl (Jasna), who he wants to marry as part of his testament with his grandfather. He gets involved in this girl's family affairs, rescuing both her and her mother from prostitution and gangsters headed by a man called Bajo, and the new group of people return to the small village in time to celebrate Živojin's wedding to his neighbor, despite the gangsters' best efforts to stop the celebration, which results in a double wedding .


Similar movies

Black marketeers Marko (Miki Manojlovic) and Blacky (Lazar Ristovski) manufacture and sell weapons to the Communist resistance in WWII Belgrade, living the good life along the way. Marko's surreal duplicity propels him up the ranks of the Communist Party, and he eventually abandons Blacky and steals his girlfriend. After a lengthy stay in a below-ground shelter, the couple reemerges during the Yugoslavian Civil War of the 1990s as Marko realizes that the situation is ripe for exploitation.
"Golf" a aggressive boy because he grown up with the broken family. He is only son who never be attention of the parents. "Bank" a lovely boy who came into family members. But he wasn't welcomed by his brother. They learn to live together for overcome obstacles of the surroundings. Before they know the truely of the word "Brother"
The Parade, in a tragicomic way, tells the story about ongoing battle between two worlds in contemporary post-war Serbian society - the traditional, oppressive, homophobic majority and a liberal, modern and open-minded minority... The film, which deals with gay rights issues in Serbia, features footage of the 2010 Belgrade gay pride parade. The film introduces a group of gay activists, trying to organize a pride parade in Belgrade
This film follows two Belgrade youths on their rise to gangster legends in a decaying society.
Life is a Miracle (Serbian: Život je čudo) is a Serbian drama film. It was entered into the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Luka has moved to Bosnia from Belgrade with his mentally unstable wife and his football-playing son, Miloš, to run a railway station and act as caretaker. Utterly engrossed in his work and blinded by natural optimism, Luka remains deaf to the increasingly persistent rumblings of war, which has broken out in Croatia and threatens to spread. When the conflict explodes, Miloš is denied his place on the football field when he must join the Serbian army, and his wife disappears on the arm of a Hungarian musician. Eventually, he receives news that Miloš has been taken prisoner of war. Luka considers suicide, but a profiteering acquaintance presents him with Sabaha, a Bosnian Muslim whom he has taken hostage. Luka intends to exchange Sabaha for Miloš, but the two fall in love after they are forced to flee deeper into Serb-controlled territory...
Sedam I Po is a Serbian movie. Seven stories from the hood that connects the leitmotif of the seven deadly sins, in a comic way of treating everyday life if Belgrade people, possessed by it's own small weaknesses. Tthey do not hesitate to go beyond the moral, since each of them understands morality in their own way. The story of the seven deadly sins, however, is not moralizing - it reveals that in spite of sin and errors there is a moment of purification and redemption of the hero. Their lives are not sinful in the Christian sense, their weaknesses are consequence of the times we live in. Pride, in despair, sloth, envy, anger, greed, debauchery and intemperance in eating and drinking - to include a biblical sin, but in modern times would be almost absurd in the context of a much bigger and worse problems of civilization. Therefore, the scenario calls for constant laughter - master your fears and problems, laugh at myself in it; it is a way of overcoming his own pain.
A drama based on Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets had some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.
Middle-aged cinephile and film projectionist Pera still lives with his mother - and best friend - Mara, in Belgrade. It's 1999 and when NATO bombs start raining down on Serbia, the two of them become refugees. After a surreal journey, they end up in New York, where Pera realizes that he can no longer do the old job he loved so much. While he and Mara were struggling to survive, the new age of digital projection was born. Then Pera stumbles upon some discarded projectors and his new mission in life becomes clear: he will travel around and show people the magic of Real Cinema - the magic that can only be created by celluoid, mechanical projectors, the silver screen and flickering light.
Story of two sisters that grew up in a small Serbian village in the beginning of the 1930s. The village is torn up by wars and years long blood oath. There are no men left in the village. Our heroines, Ognjenka and Mala Boginja decide to go to the city, kidnap men and return life to their village. The lights of the metropolis dazzle them and there starts this little amusing and sentimental adventure.
Belgrade, 1999. Producer Sergei and his film crew are in a disastrous situation - the film they're making is under threat - there's no money, the crew are dissatisfied - and NATO bombing is just around the corner. Then a member of the State Security Service (Mileta) comes looking for American co-producer Harvey. Anxious and worried, in the midst of the bombing that's begun, Sergei hides Harvey from what he thinks is awaiting him - arrest. During the night, he thinks up a plan. He announces the start of filming on a new, patriotic film - in which the main role will be played by Harvey. The plan works - the State supports the film and Mileta, as the State's representative, joins the crew. However, the underlying conflict between Mileta and Sergei explodes during the first screening. Mileta accuses them of being artists, and not being patriots.
Swan is a lonely Serbian refugee in Belgrade. He hopes for a visa to follow his long-lost fiancée to Chicago, but winds up at the Happy Millennium dating agency. A warm romantic comedy with a twist.
Here and There (Serbian: Tamo i ovde) is a Serbian film which was premiered at the Belgrade Film Festival FEST 2009. Here and There follows two interconnected stories on two different continents. Robert (Thornton), a depressed New Yorker, tries to make quick cash and ends up in Serbia, where instead of money he finds his soul. At the same time, a young Serbian immigrant, Branko (Trifunović), struggles in an unforgiving New York, desperately trying to bring his girlfriend from Serbia to the United States. Mirijana Karanović plays Branko's mother.
One week in the life of Branimir Mitrovic "Floyd", a young rally driver from the National Class (up to 785cc), dreaming of promotion to the higher category. He lives a carefree life of a Belgrade dandy boy, neglecting his girlfriend, avoiding his draft calls, and refusing to deal with any life responsibility in general. The decisive race on Saturday is only what he cares about.
1992 Belgrade. Aleksa works the night shift at an occult magazine to avoid military police, draft and war. Old colleague, Mrs. Kosara, offers him shelter at her place. Soon, a dead friend warns him in his dream about the old lady.
Anica lives in New Belgrade, a miserable district of tower blocks and concrete. She is mistress to Milutin, a wealthly local criminal who owns a solarium and runs a protection racket. Anica is determined not to grow old in this dump where neither love nor life seems to offer her a decent future. One grey winter’s day Anica has an idea to steal money from Milutin’s safe, get on a plane and leave the country forever.
At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service, counting days to the moment when they should take their uniforms off for good. It is the spring of 1987 and the thought never even crosses their mind that they would, in fact, put them back on quite soon and go to war.
The new misadventures of single mother Svetlana, her 12 year old son and (still) part-time worker Siniša. Siniša's plans to marry Svetlana are ruined when her ex-husband comes back from Germany, persuading her to start their new life together.
The film follows a life of a homeless, but very well read, Marxist who is coping with Che's death and wishes to live a life of revolutions and workers' uprisings. He is a hypochondriac, bitter at the world, and blaming his old capitalist boss for his life's misery.
Seven erotic stories: a guy wants to fix the antenna on the roof of the building in order to watch "Emmanuelle" on TV, but his girlfriend wants to do it there...A photographer is so charmed by his model that he sleeps with her...A gay actor tests if his fellow gay friend is in love with him...Employees Marko and Hana accidentally meet in a music store and decide to have sex there. He loses his erection when he finds out that she is not of Czech origin, but she still manages to bring him into the right mood...Two women and a man try out a threesome...A girl cheats on her boyfriend just minutes before they have a date...In the forest, a guy tricks a girl into having sex with him under the pretext that a nonexistent tick will pass from her vagina on to his penis. (http://moviecritic2000.blogspot.ca)
The story about Jimmy the Dingy, a young vagabond who works as a seasonal worker. Having been sacked from the job, his dreams are to become a singer. As most of the things in the Balkans happen, he is destined to failure.
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1979. While Yugoslav president Tito is in Cuba settling international matters, a mysterious Phantom occupies the attention and hearts of Belgrade. Every night, he exhibits spectacular driving maneuvers using a stolen white Porsche car through the city streets. Through the radio the Phantom publicly challenges the police to try and catch him. More than 10.000 people are in the streets supporting their hero. The police are forced into a game where he sets the rules. The Phantom becomes a political threat. What started as a game turned into a political scandal and remained a myth that would never be forgot.
Dhadkan is about Anjali (Shilpa Shetty) who is a girl that hails from an extremely rich and influential family. Her father Mr. Chauhan (Kiran Kumar) is a renowned businessman and has many dreams for his daughter. But Anjali is in love with Dev (Sunil Shetty) who is very poor & often cannot even afford to clothe himself properly. Dev also loves Anjali, wants to marry her so has to meet her father.
Documentary about the famous Serbian athlete and movie enthusiast who made a feature film during the Nazi occupation of Belgrade and had some problems after the liberation because of that.
Vlad Tepes is a great hero, but when he learns the Sultan is preparing for battle and needs to form an army of 1,000 boys, including Vlad's son, he vows to find a way to protect his family. Vlad turns to dark forces in order to get the power to destroy his enemies and agrees to go from hero to monster as he's turned into the mythological vampire Dracula.
Take a Deep Breath (Serbian: Diši Duboko) is a Serbian film. This drama was promoted as the "first Serbian LGBT feature film", even though the writer herself stresses that it is more about the generation gap in the modern family. Sasa, a Belgrade University law student, tells her parents that she and her boyfriend Stefan are moving to Canada. That same night Sasa and Stefan suffer a car accident. Sasa wakes up in hospital and meets Stefan's charming and clever sister Lana, a photographer living in Paris. Stefan remains in hospital to recover. Sasa finds out that her mother Lila is having an affair. Her father, a well-known judge, desperately tries to keep the family together. Lana becomes Sasa's closest friend - a person able to prove that life is sometimes a mere game. In the midst of historical and family chaos, Sasa gets involved in a love relationship with her boyfriend's sister.
In the early 1970s, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (Andy Garcia) is torn between his own musical dreams and the dreams of his wife, Marianela (Mía Maestro), a fervent supporter of the ideals of the Castro revolution. Also starring Charles S. Dutton as Dizzy Gillespie and José Zúñiga as Paquito D'Rivera, this gripping jazz biopic is at once a detailed portrait of a musician and a stinging critique
In 16th-century Russia in the grip of chaos, Ivan the Terrible strongly believes he is vested with a holy mission. Believing he can understand and interpret the signs, he sees the Last Judgment approaching. He establishes absolute power, cruelly destroying anyone who gets in his way. During this reign of terror, Philip, the superior of the monastery on the Solovetsky Islands, a great scholar and Ivan's close friend, dares to oppose the sovereign's mystical tyranny. What follows is a clash between two completely opposite visions of the world, smashing morality and justice, God and men. A grand-scale film with excellent leading roles by Mamonov and Yankovsky. An allegory of Stalinist Russia
Alexander Armsworth and his family move to an authentic antibellum mansion, which once was owned by a river pirate. Alexander is drawn into a century-old mystery when he sees the ghost of a little girl, and she asks for his help in finding the "child of glass" by reciting a riddle. He has only a day or two to solve the riddle, or be haunted for the rest of his life!
A Serbian engineer falls for a younger woman, but he is inept at courtship.
Dull and plain Catherine (Olivia de Havilland) lives with her emotionally distant father, Dr. Sloper (Ralph Richardson), in 1840s New York. Her days are empty -- filled with little more than needlepoint. Enter handsome Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), a dashing social climber with his eye on the spinster's heart and substantial inheritance. William Wyler's Oscar-winning film is an adaptation of the Henry James novel Washington Square.
Novica is a mathematics champion in a Belgrade high school. In an attempt to overcome the ‘geek’ status at school, Novica becomes attracted to the world of skinheads by his school friend Relja. Novica is exposed to violence, hooliganism and racism; embracing the ideology and climbing up the ladder in the gang hierarchy.
One Serbian army battery in the First World War, in forced march with no stopping and rest, arrives to Cer and, in decisive moment, enters the fight and throws off Austrian troops which penetrated into the country. This is not only the chronicle of Cer battle, but Serbian drama and drama of one nation who made impossible possible during the fight against the empire which wanted to take away their country. This drama is based on credible events and authentic documents.
The story of a lusty, fighting young adventurer who exchanged his sword for a cross
A martial arts instructor must enter the world of illegal pit fighting in order to save his family and his dojo.
I Even Met Happy Gypsies is a 1967 Yugoslav, original Serbian title is Skupljači perja, which means The Feather Gatherers. The protagonist, Bora, is a charming but mean-spirited gypsy, while his older wife, Lence, is submissive. Bora is in love with the younger Tisa, who is being offered in marriage by her father. The two get themselves in trouble and eventually have to flee. Tisa rejects her husband and she and Bora get married in the church, and their adventures continue. At the 1967 Cannes Film Festival it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury and the FIPRESCI Prize. The film was nominated for the 1968 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Bekim Fehmiu also won a Golden Arena award for Best Actor at the 1966 Pula Film Festival for his portrayal of Bora.
Rasputin is one of the most interesting people in the world during the early 20th Century. He was also one of the most enigmatic and contradictory. A holy man who was accused of raping a nun, excessive drinking, and being power hungry. Barrymore's portrayal of Rasputin plays this up, plus making claims that he will be Russia. He seems almost like Charles Manson at times in the way he can make someone, especially the Czarevitch, behave like they are totally different people compared to the way they acted before meeting Rasputin.
Writer Misuzu Nakahara confesses her involvement in the 300 Million Yen Affair, a sensational 1960s bank robbery. In the chaotic days of the 1960s, Misuzu, a lonely high school girl from a troubled family, finds sanctuary with her nihilistic brother, Ryo, and his friends. They pass their days hanging around a shadowy jazz cafe bar, indulging themselves in a life of sex, drugs and alcohol. Social unrest simmers, while their relationships gradually falter. Misuzu gets drawn into a dangerous plot against society that was hatched by one of the rebellious youths, Kishi; they will rob a bank car of 300 million yen! The two accomplices set out for numerous rehearsals, while in their hearts they secretly and quietly become even closer. Then one rainy day, aided by coincidence, they pull off their heist successfully, which has a huge impact throughout Japan. However, it brings Misuzu only a great sense of loss and sadness, which she had never anticipated...
Mihajlo, an introvert piano teacher starts romance with a pretty careerist who teaches modeling at the university in Belgrade where they both work. His feelings are awakened after a long period, but this relationship makes him see the flashbacks, as well as yet unseen images that remind him of his troubled childhood - as if he experienced this already. When their university wins a contest to hold public TV performance, Mihailo fails to play the piano on the decisive night and she dumps him. The boiling point is about to come.
7 Assassins is a new martial arts movie which delivers a great cast which see Shaw Brothers legends Kara Hui and Ti Lung back on screen... When social unrest plagues a Kingdom in ancient China, the Imperial Court collects stockpiles of gold from local governments to expand the royal army. However, the gold is robbed while in transport. In a desperate move to retrieve the stolen treasure, elite royal guards are sent on a mission to go after the gold but soon find out they are not the only ones in pursuit of it.
Oh-sung, a doctor at a hospice facility, is emotionally scarred by the experience of losing his parents as a child. One night he meets Young-ju, a make-up artist who has been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. Despite having very little time together, the two start to develop feelings for each other.
A story about one team that decides to follow a dream that takes them on a journey to the First World Football Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930. A dream that allows them to become true stars and living legends.
An Italian anthology film directed by Roberto Rossellini starring Anna Magnani and Federico Fellini. The film has two parts: "Una Voce Umana" ("The Human Voice") and "Il Miracolo" ("The Miracle").
Vaanam features five different stories of five different characters. All five stories run in parallel at a time and they meet at a point to find a solution which forms the climax. Cable Raja who works as a cable operator is a happy go lucky chap who aspires to become rich by marrying a rich girl Pooja. A sex worker Saroja , who is run away from a brothel house and plans to lead her own life.Chakravarthy who is not interested in joining army though he has comes from a army background family is aims to become a famous rock star and Chakravarthy starts his journey with his friends to give a live performance. Prakash Raj and his wife Zara gets discriminated for being a Muslim and plans to leave for Dubai to make a living out there. Lakshmi is desperate to get funds for her son studies and also has some debts to be cleared. As fate has it, all these characters are present in the private hospital, a group of terrorists attack the hospital.
Naturalistic and almost documentary account of the heroin addicts in Belgrade, in the form of a sad life story of young girl and her wasted life.
In America it frequently shows under the title Hey Babu Riba. In 1985, four middle-aged Yugoslav emigres return to Belgrade for the funeral of Mariana, their beautiful compatriot. They called her Esther, for Esther Williams, she was the coxswain for their four-man rowing team, and they each loved her. They'd last seen her in 1953, when they rowed her across the Adriatic, pregnant, to join her exiled father in Italy. In flashbacks we learn the story of their youthful baptism into sex, smoking, rock and roll (Hey Ba-ba-re-bop), Hollywood and Swedish films, blue jeans on the black market, and their rivalry with Ristic, the Communist Party youth leader for whom they had instant antipathy.
Men, women, and war. Jelena Panic is a young woman in Belgrade in the early 1990s, during Serbia's war with Croatia; she's making a book of her grandmother's diaries from the end of World War II. She takes up with Bogdan, a young soldier recovering from war wounds. He helps her with her grandmother's story, a tragic triangle involving her effete and well-educated husband and an uneducated major, a Chekist who has, perhaps, the power to save a political prisoner who is the grandmother's friend. As Jelena wonders which man was her grandfather (the Chekist or the husband), Bogdan recovers from his wounds and must decide whether to return to the front. Jelena pleads; duty calls.
When Tetsuya (Yosuke Kubozuka) was 10-years-old he met Emi (Meisa Kuroki), who suffered from a heart disease. In hopes to cure Emi's condition, Tetsuya decided to become a doctor. Following through on his dreams, Tetsuya is now a doctor and is about to marry Emi. One day though, Tetsuya hears about Don (Edison Chen). Tetsuya remembers the times he spent with Emi and Don as a child and also feels insecure about Don.
During the Cold War, a young Soviet officer and a local Polish woman are drawn together by music.
Besa is a Serbian film from 2009. year, made in co-production with several other countries. At the beginning of the World War I, Filip, a Serbian school director in the Serbian province, has been asked to immediately go to Belgrade to get war schedule. His wife Lea, Slovene, with no one to leave because the two of them recently arrived in the small town and no one really knows them. Azem, an Albanian, school attendance, gives Filip a promise (Besa) to watch the Lea and that nothing will happen. Lea and Azem, are forced to live together in an abandoned school. Their relationship changes during the time..
The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.
United is based on the true story of Manchester United's legendary "Busby Babes", the youngest side ever to win the Football League and the 1958 Munich Air Crash that claimed eight of the their number. The film draws on first-hand interviews with the survivors and their families to tell the inspirational story of a team and community overcoming terrible tragedy.
Gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star, Alexandra Del Lago, whom he hopes to use to help him break into the movies. Chance runs into trouble when he finds his ex-girlfriend, the daughter of the local politician Tom 'Boss' Finley, who more or less forced him to leave his daughter and the town many years ago.
St. George Slays the Dragon (Serbian: Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu) is a Serbian World War I drama. The movie starts with Kingdom of Serbia battling the remaining Turkish occupiers during the First Balkan War in 1912 and ends with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The movie's central theme is a love triangle between the village gendarme Đorđe, his wife Katarina and the young disabled war veteran Gavrilo who was previously engaged to Katarina before he went to war and lost his arm in battle. Even though Katarina in the meantime married Đorđe, she still has affection for Gavrilo. At the onset of World War I, all able-bodied men in the village are recruited for combat. Left in the village are only women, children and disabled veterans from previous Balkan wars. Rumours start circulating that the invalids in the village are trying to take advantage of the situation by making their moves on the women in the village – the wives and sisters of the recruited men.
Two men break out of prison; a rival gang ambushes them. One is mortally wounded and tells the other, Mickey, to take him to the estate of a retired robber, Noel, who lives in comfort with his lovely and beloved wife, Nicole. The man dies, and Mickey, a menacing hothead, demands money of Noel. A few days later, Mickey returns to the estate, shoots up a dinner party and threatens them again. Noel sends Nicole to an hotel and goes to his old gang to help him hunt down the dangerous Mickey. Mickey has other problems, too, including heartache for a daughter he hardly knows. Young, eager cops tail Nicole, and all are on a complicated collision course.
"Young and Healthy Like a Rose" is a strong visionary achievement that still looks topical today as back in the times when it was filmed and banned by the then communist censorship. A story about a young delinquent, who evolves from typical outsider to mafia boss of Belgrade seemed shocking back then; today, it is the cruel reality of our times. With incredible foresight of things to come, Jovanovic's leading character says: "I am your future". More poetical than Hollywood movies, much more realistic than "Trainspotting". An exciting story about crime, drugs and the deadly grip of the secret police in Serbia. The best role of Dragan Nikolic, one of the rare ones he presented himself as a tough guy and the authentic sex symbol from this region. A slap in the face of film and other convention. A must see!
A love story between a teenager girl and a small time mob set in Belgrade during the times of great political turmoil.
The story takes place at the beginning of the bombing, both in Belgrade and in one small town in Serbia, at the end of March 1999. Forty-year-old Mickey, an unaccomplished writer, a disillusioned assistant professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, a discouraged democrat and a columnist, dismissed from a famous daily newspaper, emerges from his own grave and enters into his own life. Within 48 hours, he will try to achieve all those things he couldn't while he was alive. At the same time, post-mortem, he will try to save the dignity of his own community and his tribe, not taking too much care of himself.
"THE TRAP" is a modern film noir reflecting the true face of Serbian (Eastern European) 'society in transition.' It's a story that could happen to you. It is a film about an ordinary man, who is forced to choose between life and death of his own child.
A normal boy receives a blow to the head which sets him off to perform rebellious acts.
The first feature film made in Serbia, "Black George" is a biography of Karađorđe, the famed leader of the rebellion against the Turkish empire in 1804, tracing his whole life from childhood until his death in 1817.

© Valossa 2015–2024