''Three'' (

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

: ''Tri'',

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: ''Три'') is a 1965 Yugoslav film directed by Aleksandar Petrović. It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

at the

39th Academy Awards The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. The Academy Awards broadcast faced the threat of cancellation due ...

. 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 Yugoslav Black Wave (also referred to as Black Wave; or sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=none, separator=" / ", Crni talas, Црни талас) is a blanket term for a Yugoslav film and broader cultural movement starting from the early 1960s and ending in ...

movement.

Plot

In April 1941, the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

invaded the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. The protagonist, Miloš, witnesses violent death on three separate occasions - at the beginning, during, and at the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 The Department for Protection of the People, commonly known under its Serbo-Croatian acronym as OZNA, was the secret police of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia that existed between 1944 and 1946. Founding The OZNA w ...

officer, must decide whether a group of German collaborators, including a girl he is attracted to, will be shot.

Cast

Bata Živojinović Velimir "Bata" Živojinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велимир "Бата" Живојиновић; 5 June 1933 – 22 May 2016) was a Yugoslav and Serbian actor and politician. He appeared in more than 340 films and TV series, and is regarded as one of ...

as Miloš Bojanić * Slobodan Perović as accused photographer * Senka Veletanlić as girl *

Voja Mirić Vojislav "Voja" Mirić ( sr-Cyrl, Воја Мирић; 7 April 1933 – 23 April 2019) was a Serbian television and film actor most noted for his role as Ahmed Nurudin in the 1974 Yugoslav movie '' Dervis i smrt'' (popularly known as ''Death an ...

as partisan * Dragomir Gidra Bojanić as police constable * Mića Tomić as instigator *

Branislav Jerinić Branislav "Ciga" Jerinić (20 March 1932 – 27 June 2006) was a Serbian actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1958 to 2003. He was married to actress Slavka Jerinic (1931-1997). Selected filmography References External links ...

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 Stojan "Stole" Aranđelović (12 June 1930 – 8 April 1993) was a Serbian film actor. He appeared in 120 films between 1955 and 1993. He was born and died in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Selected filmography * ''Crveni cvet'' (1950) - Oficir * ...

* Laza Jovanović * Rajko Savelić

Themes

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.

Reception

A review from the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

from 1967 after the film's nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards reads:

Accolades

Awards

Pula Film Festival Pula Film Festival () is an annual Croatian film festival, established in 1954. It is held in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula Arena. Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival and is usually held in the summer, in July or Aug ...
(1965)

* Golden Arena for Best Actor (

) * Golden Arena for Best Director ( Aleksandar Petrović) * Critics' award " Milton Manaki" Palenka award at the Acapulco Film Festival Laceno d'oro award at the Avellino Neorealism Film Festival

Nominations

in 1966 Crystal Globe for best film at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

in 1966

Festivals

Poretta Terme International Film Festival (1966)

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

(1966)

Legacy

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 Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

of great importance on December 28, 2016. ''Three'' is also on that list. 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 The Cinema of Yugoslavia refers to the film industry and cinematic output of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which existed from 1945 until it disintegrated into several independent nations in the early 1990s. Yugoslavia was ...

References

External links

* Official Websit

* 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) * {{Yugoslav submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 1965 films Yugoslav war comedy films Serbo-Croatian-language films 1960s war comedy films Films directed by Aleksandar Petrović Serbian war comedy films Avala Film films Anti-war films about World War II Films set in Serbia Films set in Yugoslavia during World War II Yugoslav World War II films Serbian World War II films Yugoslav Black Wave films