User reviews

This "tragicomedy" written by famous Serbian theatre/film writer Dusan Kovacevic is probably one of the best movies ever made in the comedy category. And yet, its appearance of a theatre play transformed into a feature film takes nothing of its value. A masterpiece one should not miss to see (preferably with subtitles, and not dubbed).

In an aged bus en route to capital Belgrade, a looming war decides the passengers' behaviour. Two Gypsy musicians sing of their miserable life but also foresee a tragedy to come; their singing both divides and connects stages in this extraordinary road movie (real life Kostic brothers are amateur actors, but together with Stanojlo Milinkovic as farmer who's plowed the road give a real-life performance).

The spectrum of characters gives a brilliant image of a society facing a war, an insight into nation's collective person: everyone is aware that war is just about to begin but they try to live their own lives the best they can, hoping that ignorance might avert the tragedy. Using a simple movie language, director Slobodan Sijan paints a picture of society torn by previous war (World War I), but also highlights personal portraits with success: provincialism of a singer, inexperience of the newlyweds, seriousness of the Great War veteran who is on way to visit his recently conscripted son, and gloomy predictions from a man who seems to be a German spy.

Brilliant in its narration, with memorable soundtrack (especialy the Gispsy songs) and adjusted atmosphere, well photographed and edited, this feature (Sijan's feature debut) was only an introduction into a series of the directors bitter-sweet comedies that will define Serbian cinematography of the 1980s: "Maratonci trce pocasni krug", "Kako sam sistematski unisten od idiota", and my other director's favourite "Davitelj protiv davitelja").

I saw this film (it's English title is "Who's Singing Over There?") at the 1980 Montreal International Film Festival. It won raves then... and disappeared. A terrible shame. It is brilliant. Sublime, ridiculous, sad, and extremely funny. The script is a work of art. It's been 19 years and I've seen only a handful of comedies (or any other genre, for that matter) that can match its originality.

This movie is one of the funniest, saddest and most accurate portrayals of the mentality that seems to have pervaded the Balkans yet again, 45 years after the time depicted. All the usual characters and conflicts are presented with such anger, sadness and love combined that it is impossible to decide whether crying or laughing would be the more appropriate response. The accuracy of portrayal and the timelessness of the types, however, make it for a great film to watch if one wants to understand a little bit of what drove ex-Yugoslavia to its madness. In fact, no diplomat dealing with the region should attempt anything until they saw this movie, and its twin, *Maratonci trce pocasni krug.* Did I mention it is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen?

This is as close to a perfect movie as any I have seen. "Ko to tamo peva" simply has it all - interesting human story, great historical significance, fabulous social commentary, hilarious and smart comedy.... What more could you possibly want from a movie?

One of the best Serbian films ever made, it continues to stand the test of time 22 years after its release.

I really don't want to go into description of different plot points because no amount of text can even remotely convey the atmosphere of this masterpiece. You just need to see it. Credit goes to director Slobodan Sijan and the great cast for taking Dusan Kovacevic's already fabulous text and making it into something even better.

I'm not sure if this movie has ever been translated and properly released in the West. If it has, stop at nothing to get it. You can thank me later.

Actually I'm surprised there were so many comments about this movie. I saw it as part of a Slavic film festival at a major American University. But nobody in USA has heard of it, which is a real shame! The dynamics between the people are what makes it both funny and sad. They are stuck together on a long bus trip--someplace most of us have been!! But I never had one like this!!

My favorite scene is the one where they stop for the funeral. Then the man & woman sneak off for some Lovemaking in the forest but everybody follows them to watch without them knowing! Just as she raises her skirt and he enters her all the way--the consumptive starts hacking & they realize everybody is watching!! Talk about premature withdrawall!! But...you really have to feel for them even if it is hilariously funny! When you see the ending it is sort of ironic that they enjoyed themselves while they did! Serb humor at it's best!

"Ko to tamo peva" is one of the best films I ever saw. A tragicomedy with very deep implications on the fate of humankind shown through the eyes of seemingly very plain and common people from a God-forsaken Serbian province just before the start of the World War II. I saw it in a small movie theater in Russia where the film had had a very limited distribution, and I had no chance to come across it ever since. It is such a pity that this excellent film is almost forgotten now. I searched for a VHS or DVD copy of it many times, and alas - could find none. I would be most grateful to other fans of this little gem of movie-making for a suggestion of the ways to purchase a copy.

A milestone in Eastern European film making and an outstanding example of Serbian mentality. A group of completely different people are doomed to die because of their discord. With "Maratonci trce pocasni krug" makes two mythological movies everyone here knows word by word.

I watch quite a few non English speaking films and this one certainly has to be in the highest grade.Pointless me telling you about the film as it's already been explained, but I would like to add, this really is one of the most funniest films I have ever seen, it's truly perfect in every way,full of highs and lows.

Wonderful atmosphere throughout the entire film as well as some wonderful characters, the song that runs through the film sung by two gypsies, "Za Beograd" is a wonderful toe tapping tune that was so popular that apparently it was sung and the end of most discos. I saw this film in Belgrade in 2000, I am so glad that I did, believe me when I say, this really is one film you should see before you die.

The group of people are travelling to Belgrade in an awful bus led by a drunk conductor and his dumb son (who likes to drive with his eyes closed). Their journey is frequently interrupted by many hilarious events which with much irony describe the fall of nation`s spirit in 1941 and are so funny that they are even today used as a common jokes. The man who "steals the show" is a peasant 4 feet tall with his 4 sons who are almost two times bigger than him. In the end, the movie takes one dramatical turn and the trip becomes nothing but a swan`s song of a dying country.

This is the movie I've seen more times than any other (I believe I saw it on average once every year since it was released). And every time I see it, it is equally fantastic and always reveals something new to me. The cast was most probably a combination of the very best there ever was in ex Yu cinematography. This movie is an absolute must for any self respecting movie lover. In the same league: Maratonci trce pocasni krug, Balkanski spijun and Otac na sluzbenom putu. This is a poker of movies everyone should have in his private video collection.

Who's Singing Over There takes place on the eve of the Germans attacking Serbia. It follows a group of eccentric characters who need to make a long journey by bus. Everyone's personalities clash, and there are constant obstacles along the way, making it clear that this is always going to be about the journey rather than the destination.

And given it's set at a specific point in 1941, there's a constant threat of war breaking out, which keeps things uneasy. Also anxiety-provoking: the crazy, music, which I wasn't a big fan of at all.

But other than that, I found a good deal to like about this offbeat movie that's largely silly and gleefully chaotic until it very suddenly and quite effectively isn't. The tone and the humour took a while to get used to, but I eventually got on board (intended that there pun) with it all. I think it does a very good job at building distinct characters in a short amount of time as well, seeing as the movie's only 86 minutes long and has a decent-sized cast.

It's the kind of thing that feels like it would resonate a lot more with people more familiar with the culture, but I still thought there was a solid amount to enjoy without much background info or context. Definitely a watchable road trip/comedy/drama/war film.

If you like to watch international movies in order to learn about other people, eras or mentalities, this is a must see. Described by Emir Kusturica as the best Yugoslav movie ever made, many would agree, showing the Balkan people in their essence. Original, fun and witty, it might not have the same impact on the international viewer as it has on the locals, who get the in-jokes and context only too well. But it still has plenty to offer. This is an authentic movie about people from one of the most screwed up parts of Europe, whose dark humor is inherent in the blood in their veins and the air in their lungs, often toxic and harsh, but that needs to be survived.

I watched this movie, because it was in the top ten comedies of IMDb. It took me into a world that is absolutely alien to me. So maybe you have to be from Serbia to fully enjoy it. Overall I liked the movie. The story was well paced, the characters convincing and the actors were great. Nevertheless, from the ratings I expected a little bit more. So maybe my expectations were too high. The story is full of twists and ideas that are on the brink of being funny. But I didn't get quite into it. Maybe because I felt more like an outsider than an insider. The film is well worth a watch, but to me it is not the master piece that I expected.

KO TO TAMO PEVA is one of Yugoslavia's film classics. It was shot and released in 1980, but it looks back to a tragic era in the country's history: the opening titles announce that what we will see takes place on 5 April 1941, a date that any Yugoslav at this time would recognize as the day before the German invasion. In a non-descript countryside, a bus stops for a motley crew of passengers all headed for Belgrade. They include a grizzled old WWI veteran (Milivoje "Mica" Tomic), a dandy hoping to audition at a caberet (Dragan Nikolic), a germanophile who may well be a spy (Bata Stojkovic), and a newlywed couple (Slavko Stimac, Neda Arneric). Also on board are two gypsies (Miodrag and Nenad Kostic) who periodically comment on the action in funny musical interludes. Driving the bus is cranky and sly old man Kstic (Pavle Vuisic) and his manchild son Misko (Aleksandar Bercek).

So much of the Yugoslav cinema tradition up to this point had consisted of state-approved World War II films repeatedly underscoring how the brave Yugoslav Partisans beat the Germans through every patriotic Yugoslav banding together regardless of their backgrounds and differences. KO TO TAMO PEVA upsets this tradition, depicting its cast as a squabbling bunch of cantankerous, greedy, and venial types, every man for himself. Yet, in spite of their dislike for one another, the Serb passengers manage to join together at least to beat up the gypsies. (This is a grim counterpart of the old joke popular in the USSR that "friendship of peoples" -- one of the values proclaimed by the Communist Party -- refers to when e.g. Russians and Georgians join together to beat up some third ethnicity.)

As the bus makes its way to the big city, the passengers encounter a series of absurd obstacles a la William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying": a funeral, the bus driver's impromptu barbecue, and the Yugoslav army detaining them as suspected spies. It seems like they will never reach Belgrade. But when they do finally make it to the capital, the audience has a surprise in store.

The extremely high rating given to this film is mainly due to Serbs and other former Yugoslavs gushing about a beloved classic, perhaps more than it deserves. For viewers outside Yugoslavia, few are likely to get all the references and humour, and so one will probably be so impressed as those reviewers giving this a perfect 10. Still, KO TO TAMO PEVA may be worth seeing for cinephiles abroad. Much of the comedy does come through. Furthermore, the work of the former Yugoslavia's most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, Emir Kusturica, riffs on some of the gags here. Indeed, the screenplay for this film was written by Dusan Kovacevic, who would eventually collaborate with Kusturica on UNDERGROUND, and KO TO TAMO PEVA presents a similar view of the Balkan mentality as a lot of riotous eating, drinking, and dancing as in Kusturica's films.

One of my favourite "domestic" movies. I don't know if there is any person in our country who hasn't seen this movie! It's funny, and sad at some moments...I don't know how did people around the world (who had opportunity to watch it) accept this movie, because you have to know some moments in our serbian history and character of Serbs in the first half of the 20th century, to be able to understand it! But as I see here, there is somebody from Canada who watched it...and he liked it.

I think that I'll try to put all good quotes from the movie on this site, but first to find out how to do that...

Cheers.

this is what i call a great movie. it lives trough the fantastic actor skills and a simple but human story. there are real characters which can be funny and dramatic. but the main theme is very cruel, like live is.the bus driver and his son are collecting people trough the country (jugoslavia) on their way to the capital Belgrad. the funny and cruel situations that happens on the way, connect the people and the pigs that travel together.

watch it and you gonna remember it for life... its filled with Slavic humor and lifestyle.

and another reason for its magic : it is hard to get!!

This is the best movie I have ever seen.

I've seen the movie on Dutch television sometime in 1988 (?).

That month they were showing a Yugoslavian movie every Sunday night.

The next week there was another great movie (involving a train, rather than a bus) the name of which I don't remember. If you know it, please let me know! In any case, how can I get to see this movie again???? A DVD of this movie, where??

Update: that other movie was Zivot Je Lep

At first sight, Who's Singing Over There just seems to be an absurd and excellent comedy… with only a kind of unusual, quiet and slow motion : what a mistake !

Beginning with two singers on a desert landscape, then a bus and a wonderful bunch of actors, it hides a gem !

The folded story, and a false rhythm induces you to think, yes it is comic, but just lets you guess it will be a gentle kind of movie.

Not at all : very funny by instant, dark subtle cynical on others, its development surprises you all along the story… Very ingeniously and cleverly presented, all the characters are important, and the actors give them full life.

And what is astonishing, it's based on deep observation, great mastering of the camera work and has a great meanings, and really everything, the general direction and how also the details are presented, that it simply makes you forget it's a movie: it is like to watch a kind human society, you yet don't know,shot by a friend behind a camera.

And you're the one behind him. It is simple, and simply exceptional !

Don't misunderstand me; in no way that would means the script , the quality of picture, the music score have a kind of amateurish way, no, no ! It's great Art !

Because it flows like a river… From high up in the mountain, down to the sea, with all the different sort of grounds and peregrinations that a real river will face on its journey to the sea… from a tiny thing to a main stream.

This metaphoric image I used is the very best way I can find to explain all the charm that has Who's Singing Over There. For me, again, I take the hammer : simply exceptional...

I've seen that The Director is the one who made Chat Blanc/Chat Noir, which I know is quiet famous… But as I yet didn't see it, I had no idea about this gentleman.

Others reviewers wrote dithyrambical comments on that film, I fully agree !

European Eastern Cinema is not well know because seldom translated, but I am lucky to have this exemplar one in original language, with good English subtitles. All in all : deep, delicious and exceptional...

For fast and empty exploding types and special effect buffs, avoid it at any cost, it may be too subtle and good for you !

But if you're interested in different genres and/or classics, I guess you won't regret this one, and in case of buying, it will have good companionship in your personal DVD library, with such no less than merited big names like Billy Wilder, Lubitsch, or Sacha Guitry among some of my preferred directors . At least for this movie !

***A film is never really good unless the camera is an eyes in the head of a poet Orson Welles***

For all of you not coming from ex-Yugoslavia, the movie can be considered as confusing...Well it would be hard to explain its nature, but if I need to put it in one line message it would be-" A black humor metaphor about Serbian mentality sliced into thousands of layers which are working simultaneously, in one specific and important moment of our history, German air attack on Belgrade and beginning of WW2 for Yugoslavia" . Each character represents specific stereotype, deeply rooted in our heritage, and we are enjoying in laughing at ourselves and our prejudice ( however, not so liberal when the same has been done by someone abroad:))) Nevertheless, this is just for your better understanding and convenience, it should not drive your conclusions as the story is universal most of the time and honest, and considered to be "the best film ever made" in former Yugoslavia. You'll not find heroes in it, nor Hollywood happy ending, just a bare, brave and sometimes brutal strive for better life. Hope you'll enjoy it, if not, forgive us on our specific and somewhat "bitter sense of humor", but that would be the story of our lives...

If you like "tragicomedies" and dramas within comedies, then this film is just made for you. The portrayal of all the characters is stereotypical to every detail and line. How to turn boring and unattractive everyday Serbian life and landscape of Serbia at the time of II. world war to what it came out on the film is spectacular. Even though, most actors were well known and respected in former Yugoslavia and beyond, their parts in this film were re-emerging for them. There are a few times you can easily forget that they are in fact, acting, they are that good! To give this amazing cast that screenplay and a great director, you know you are making a hit. The storyline is beyond the wildest imagination. When you stop laughing because of one scene, there is another one unexpectedly kicking right in again. It all comes clear at the end, but don't miss even a second of the film or you will regret doing so. Considering hard life in Serbia, films there have similar stories, but each and every one of them is told differently through every film. I can't forget the amazing (!!!) soundtrack that follows every "breaking point" in the film. Well thought through in every aspect, this film can easily be one of the best dark comedies of all time and surely one of the best Yugoslavian films in history.

// There are so many more great similar Yugoslavian black comedies you should check out, like: Maratonci trce pocasni krug (1982), Balkanski spijun (1984, ... //

This brilliant flick about several people traveling to Belgrade just before start of the WW2 in Yugoslavia is probably worth an Oscar or two. It is very profound, intelligent and, above all, funny. Jokes are typically Balkanesque, which makes it even more original in global circuits.

Superbly developed characters into the lots of funny situations full of spirit, absurdness and Serbian mentality. Movie is a great comedy, enjoyable, interesting, unpredictable. Best point in a film: characters, then humor itself, story and dialogs. Humor has 'inner development' , rare in Serbian movies. So, it is consequence of characterization, is well motivated, spontaneous and cogent. Also it is sharp, intelligent and lucid. Most of the movies, unfortunately, had constructed humor (devise a joke and put it into a characters's mouth) or ordinary situation comedy, burlesque, farce. Some of the 'art immortality' are incorporated in this movie. Little masterpiece, hardly reachable.

This is a classic of Serbian cinema, no doubt. But is also a somewhat overrated film. It starts very well, but loses steam in the middle. The ending comes out of the blue, and doesn't feel satisfying. Also, the singing episodes become tedious over time, while narrative flow is constantly and needlessly interrupted. In my opinion, the singing should have been cut out, and the third act needed polishing. Other than that, the film has lots of good humour in it, as well as intriguing and likeable characters. I definitely recommend it.

Absolutely baffled at the acclaim for this movie. What the hell is up with the bouncy music? Anyways, I thought this was a pretty bad road trip movie. Not all that funny and nothing much interesting happens to be a worthwhile experience. Nobody to really care for or any character arc. The ending is the most significant thing that occurs in it. Even then it feels forced and doesn't really work for me as a whole. Just don't get what others see in this film.

3/10.