The Wounds
Encyclopedia
The Wounds is a 1998 Serbia
n drama film
written and directed by Srđan Dragojević.
It depicts the violent lives of two boys in Belgrade
as they aspire to make names for themselves in the city's underworld. The story takes place throughout the 1990s, against the backdrop of the Yugoslav wars
and the growing ethnic hatred
between Serbs
, Croats
and Bosniaks
.
The film won a Bronze Horse at the Stockholm International Film Festival
and a FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, "For its powerful, dramatic depiction of the brutal reality and complexity of life in the Balkans today."
. Based on a true story, film follows the fate of two boys, Pinki and Švaba, who grow up in Novi Beograd
, in 1991-1996 period. The childhood of two protagonists is determined by sanctions, war and the criminalization of the whole society.
Like many of their peers, Pinki and Švaba enter the world of crime at fourteen years of age, accepting the values of Serbia
from that period, ex-communist community in hyper-transition, which, because of war and sanctions, reminds of a theater of absurd. The idols of main characters are famous Belgrade
criminals and a TV show Puls Asfalta (Pulse of the Asphalt) which hosts such people and turns them into media stars. Pinki and Švaba are fantasizing of being in the show one day and they are trying to deserve that by committing crimes. After they succeed in establishing themselves as influential criminals and drug dealers, their uprising in the world of crime is cut by mutual conflict. Švaba shoots Pinki five times, unaware that he wounded his best friend in the same places Jesus was wounded two thousand years ago. Pinki manages to survive and after some time he escapes from the hospital, and calls his friend to make peace. The truce is more than terrible, as the wounded boy has, after an unwritten rule, to inflict five identical wounds to his friend, so the friendship can be built up again.
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
written and directed by Srđan Dragojević.
It depicts the violent lives of two boys in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
as they aspire to make names for themselves in the city's underworld. The story takes place throughout the 1990s, against the backdrop of the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
and the growing ethnic hatred
Ethnic hatred
Ethnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to feelings and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group in various degrees. See list of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms for specific cases....
between Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
and Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
.
The film won a Bronze Horse at the Stockholm International Film Festival
Stockholm International Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year in the second half of November...
and a FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, "For its powerful, dramatic depiction of the brutal reality and complexity of life in the Balkans today."
Plot
Film is dedicated to the generations born after TitoJosip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
. Based on a true story, film follows the fate of two boys, Pinki and Švaba, who grow up in Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...
, in 1991-1996 period. The childhood of two protagonists is determined by sanctions, war and the criminalization of the whole society.
Like many of their peers, Pinki and Švaba enter the world of crime at fourteen years of age, accepting the values of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
from that period, ex-communist community in hyper-transition, which, because of war and sanctions, reminds of a theater of absurd. The idols of main characters are famous Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
criminals and a TV show Puls Asfalta (Pulse of the Asphalt) which hosts such people and turns them into media stars. Pinki and Švaba are fantasizing of being in the show one day and they are trying to deserve that by committing crimes. After they succeed in establishing themselves as influential criminals and drug dealers, their uprising in the world of crime is cut by mutual conflict. Švaba shoots Pinki five times, unaware that he wounded his best friend in the same places Jesus was wounded two thousand years ago. Pinki manages to survive and after some time he escapes from the hospital, and calls his friend to make peace. The truce is more than terrible, as the wounded boy has, after an unwritten rule, to inflict five identical wounds to his friend, so the friendship can be built up again.