User reviews

In a war-infested country, behind the lines, a soldier on leave interferes to save the life of an innocent man from another ethnic group, being beaten by his fellow soldiers. He ends up being beaten to death instead.

20 years after the war, one finds himself thinking about who were the true war heroes. An utterly pointless act, to risk your own life in a havoc in which a human life is wasted in the blink of an eye, for someone you barely know, is something one can see only on screen. In reality, most of us are those who watch, who witness, but dare not interfere.

One man did interfere, and lost his life, seemingly pointlessly. The only child of a widowed father, with a fiancée whose life would become a sad and tragic story of a drifter afterwards, and the gang of murderers sentenced to ridiculously short sentences. Was it worth it, are good deeds worth it in general? There's an ironic English proverb saying that no good deed goes unpunished. But the story tells that even a rock thrown in water makes circles that grow and spread. In this case, circles of compassion that go through space and time and inspire many. Circles that help us find inner courage to stand up to injustice, that help us find the compassion to restrain us in revenge upon the innocent.

This film was inspired by a true story. The story of Srđan Aleksić, a Serbian soldier on leave who was beaten to death in 1993 by his fellow men, while trying to save Alen Glavović, an innocent Muslim civilian, who was being beaten before him. Out of the four rascals, only one expressed regret in the court. Ironically, he was the only one to meet death shortly, within a couple of months, shot on the front line, where all four were sentenced to. Srđan's father wrote in his son's obituary "He died fulfilling his human duty".

The circles that the rock of Srđan's deed made are those which eventually made him the only war-hero respected and cared for on all the opposed sides. What strikes me most were Christ's words that "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Those circles keep showing us that such deeds of the greatest love are possible and were made by a man who had lived among us, and who never lived to see his family growing and his children being born, unlike us, the silent witnesses, who take so much pride in love we feel and share.

The names are altered and the rest of the story is entirely fictional. Being a person from the region, there was little in the film for me not to be fully understood and grasped. Therefore, I am somewhat reluctant to recommend it to worldwide audience, fearing if its universal message would break through the local context it took place in. But I do. Here is an excellent, slow and heavy Serbian drama with little action, much dialogue and fine acting, telling us the aftermath of a well known story, and circles of compassion, forgiveness, courage and inner purification.

R.I.P. Srđan Aleksić 1966 — 1993

Circles, aka Krugovi, is based on the true story of a Serbian soldier who was killed defending a Muslim civilian from other soldiers while he was off-duty. The results of this event are fictional but that kernel of truth grounds this film in a firm realty. The majority of this film takes place a decade after the Serbian-Bonsian conflict is over but its effects are present throughout.

What makes this film great and sets it apart from a straight-forward narrative is the way it skillfully withholds information and only reveals small details of what happened and the history that has ensued. This keeps the audiences rapt attention and makes it much more tense than it should be because we don't know how the characters are going to react because we don't fully know what happened. The characters don't go off on a lengthy moralistic speech or expository dialogue. The communication is much more realistic in that they don't say what they are thinking and they hide information from each other – much like real life.

The cinematography is great, from the millennia old desert and old way of life to the inside of the BMW plant which looks futuristic; this is a film with skillful hands behind the camera. Really, this film should not be as great as it is, but the constant intrigue and slow unraveling of the mystery make this an entertaining and emotional ride. The actors too are compelling and well casted in their roles; this film would not work on any level without their excellent performances. The actor who plays the mobster-father (the IMDb credits are incomplete), even though his role is fairly small in comparison, should be the villain in every movie, he just exudes fury and hate. (He looks like an evil Michael Sheen – which is actually Andy Sirkis so maybe he looks like an evil Andy Sirkis?)

From the title of this film, I assumed this would be about the circular nature of violence but in fact this can be taken two ways, it's more about the circular nature of kindness and good, and a more-accurate title would be "ripple" or the ripple-effects of a singular kind-act.

Krugovi (Circles) is one of the best Serbian movies of last decade. It is inspired by heroic death of young Serbian soldier Srdjan Aleksic (Marko in movie), who saved life of Muslim during Bosnian civil war and was killed by his comrades. Question which leads movie is: Was it for nothing? Does it mean anything to people? This movie itself is an answer on this question.

Movie depicts people that are 12 years later still in front of this tragedy. Father of victim is rebuilding the church stone by stone. Church is removed due to building a new hydro-power central and he is using the same stone to build it on the top of the hill. Question is: Is it worth? Cinematography here is beautiful. Friend of Marko that didn't do anything to help him is victim of his conscience. Questin is: How to live with it? Fiancé of Marko left Bosnia and Herzegovina and tries to move on, but it is far from easy. Son of one of murderers has to find a way to live with his father's crime and to rebuild the church together with Marko's father. As he is trying to help it seems he is just spoiling. Haris, whose life Marko saved, lives in Germany with wife and two daughters and on the anniversary of Marko's death is in situation to "pay his debt".

At the end all protagonists got answers and we could feel it. We didn't need words to explain situation. As in real life sometimes word are redundant, incapable.

I highly recommend this movie. It is emotional, but never pathetic; ethical, but never moralistic; inspiring, but not pretentious; abounds with symbols, but never confusing.

And one question for the end: When circles will reach us?

If this film were a state of mind, it would be that sense of comprehension before inhaling your last breath. If this film were an emotion, it would be the weeping of an abandoned child. If this film were a person, it would be one reeling due to great loss. Still, it is all of these, and more – it is about liberation. The camera-work takes us around in circles - the clear Hercegovan sky, the clinical void of a Belgrade hospital, the barrenness of western capitalism. We are reminded that life gives no more than what is put in. But also, this film is about balance, about loss of son and gain of father, about deliverance through goodness and imprisonment through evil, and about setting things right in order to be able to take in air again. Could it be that this work of art is finally (after 20 years, from 1993-2013) giving us a chance to atone for endorsing fratricide, if by nothing but by conceding to it? Serbs must exonerate themselves to be able to resume living in the homeland. As for us Yugoslavs, perhaps can finally exit the circle of remorse for the demise of our land and find some redemption and peace of mind.

Krugovi (Circles) explores the consequences of civil war in former Yugoslavia, which is still a very sensitive subject in the area. The discussion surrounding such a movie usually overshadows its message. Due to the complex nature of the conflict and numerous parties involved, movies about this particular civil war tend to paint a simplified picture and imply how one of the sides were "more guilty". This might not be interesting or even anticipated by an unacquainted viewer, yet it takes a toll on the artistic merit of the movie. Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) is probably the best example.

The authors of Krugovi (Circles) overcame this challenge by a script in which the main protagonists are mostly Serbs. A group of Serbian soldiers kicks off the storyline and their actions would influence their lives and the lives of the people around them even twelve years later.

Probably the best thing about this movie is its atmosphere. The grinding sadness almost pours from the screen. However, this is not a tragedy, rather a story about common people whose small deeds might make the world a better place although they won't right the wrongs of the past.

Krugovi (Circles) is so far the best feature film by the Srdan Golubovic. According to IMDb.com he directed only three feature films, yet he displayed an amazing ability to improve his output throughout his career. This one set the bar pretty high and it is with great expectation that i await his next movie.

it is not only a good film. but support for reflection. about a war and about Balkans. about hate and about the small details. about feelings and about memories. about justice. and about the essential answers. the music, the image, the acting are only steps to a large circle of questions with not precise answers but with important role to define for yourself. it reminds few great European films but it remains different. for the salt taste, for the bitter atmosphere, for the traits of a lost world, for the beauty of few words and images, for the high talent of a remarkable team.a group portrait in the frame of ash circles. few amazing scenes. and the questions who does it a new form of documentary about an inside geography.Aleksander Bercek's silence. Nikola Rakocevic's character nuances.the admirable art of Srdan Glubovic. a film like a large question. and useful exercise of honesty for each viewer.

Even if it does not entertain you, Krugovi is certainly a movie that makes you think (about life in general, but also about Balkan history in particular). In troubled situations and extreme conditions, the ugliest and the most beautiful shades of the human soul reveal together. The tricky thing is that they seem to appear inter-connected, so a terrible bad might be the reason and the circumstance of some extraordinary good. The movie is inspiring, it is about hope in humanity, about people who act as human beings, even in that moments where the animal instinct reigns over the world. Souls talk, people not too much. There are rough characters, that create strong ties based on common memories. In spite of all, they seem to have an inner need to do the right thing. All the stories from this movie start from the same point, Marko a soldier in the Bosnian War is beaten to death because he was trying to defend a Muslim from harassment and possible death. Few years later, the characters of that scene arrive to deal again with each other.

Amazing... Just... Amazing... This movie is an absolute good. One of the best Serbian movies ever. Srdan managed to make an even better movie than Klopka (which I thought is going to be very hard). I actually can't decide what is more amazing - music, cinematography, story or acting, and I can't decide that because everything is f**king INCREDIBLE! Everyone should see this film.

It's about what a single (nonselfish), heroic act is capable of doing to other people, and weather it can make a difference. The movie is based on a true story, but it only uses it to raise some big life questions.

A DEFINITE MUST SEE. (I'm not kidding, watch this movie)

first - it is not just a movie. but an experience. a special one. because , more than images, music, acting, it is a web of questions about small , usual everyday things. it is expression of a splendid precision to give to a not extraordinary story, at first case, soul, force and blood. it remains many other great European films. but it is not a shadow. or an answer. only a question. few amazing scenes . a great director. salt taste. ash circles. and the measure as axis of a group portrait. it is not a bad idea to see it. why ? for discover a world questions. for few memorable scenes. for Aleksander Bercek silence, for Nikola Rakocevic character nuances, for Hristina Popovic in skin of storm, for the art, splendid art of Srdan Glubovic.

Another contrived, plain effort by Mr. Golubovic. The movie itself feels like someone forced the director to make it. There is no sign of a personal touch, or why this movie should have been done. Skip it, seriously!

Hope a new film by the same director will be good one.

Summary says it all. This is one of best movies I have ever seen, and masterpiece of Serbian cinematography. It's really well done technically, and not revealing everything until very end, but giving hints all way along about why characters are acting the way they do. It slowly raises history, revealing one event that scarred all for life.

It's based on true story of Serbian soldier in Bosnia during wartime, and it follows characters to present day, showing how incident in Bosnia haunts them. Movie is pretty hard to watch, because of very thought of situation. It gets emotional at some points, where characters finally leave history behind, or do something that honors the memory of incident. This movie also shows global atmosphere during Yugoslavian civil war, pretty much pointing out that ordinary people did not want to wage war. It has subtle cinematographic effects, revealing more than there is to plain sight.

As a person who likes movies, I will leave criticism and reviews to people that are paid to do that. However I will recommend this movie as a must-see to everyone reading this.

KROGOVI (Сircles): Serbian, 2013 Director Srdan Golubović A Serbian film with Slovenian, Croatian and German production inputs.

After a fast start in Trebinje, Montenegro, 1993, introducing the principal characters of the drama, the time moves forward twelve years to Halle, Germany, and then to Belgrade, Serbia, and the pace slows down considerably with lots of real time sequences and lingering shots on pensive faces as the movie lapses into a study of the consequences of an act of collective brutality -- simply put, an outrageous war crime, during the brutal Jugoslavian civil war, a dozen years later. On various people who have tried to put it behind them. At the opening, Marko, a Serbian soldier off duty intervenes in the brutal beating of an innocent Moslem civilian being savaged by some of his soldier mates as the townspeople look on passively.This humane act will have very complex and puzzling repercussions which will not be resolved until the very end when we finally see what happened to Marko as a result of his attempt to save an innocent person from a pointless murder by his mates. This very tense drama that was roundly applauded by the Hungarian (Miskolc) audience and followed by a lengthy Q and A session with the director on stage after the screening. The civil war that tore Jugoslavia apart at the beginning of the nineties is now 20 years behind us but in the region itself the repercussions are still much like an open wound

Circles, aka Krugovi, is based on the true story of a Serbian soldier who was killed defending a Muslim civilian from other soldiers while he was off-duty. Most of the story takes place a decade after the end of Serbian-Bosnian conflict but the effects of the war keep reaching out like ripples on a pond when a heavy stone is thrown in. Expanding concentric circles of guilt that keep disturbing the otherwise smooth surface of the water -- the 'krugovi' of the title -- that affect among others a Serbian family that has started a new life in neutral Germany, but the past comes back to haunt them. A surgeon who was only a medical student at the beginning is faced with the dilemma of whether to operate and save the life of a new patient, or not to operate and let him die when he recognizes the patient as the killer of his best friend back in Trebinje years before. But the former killer taunts him by reminding him that he was of the bystanders who did nothing to prevent the killing on that fatal day. All of this is cunningly directed like an intertwined nest of mystery stories embedded in each other until the surprise revelation at the end. While the story is specifically Yugoslavian the morality involved is universal and the filming is so masterful that this movie will hold the attention of audiences anywhere. Can't wait to see more work by Srdan Golubović.

Have you ever heard a story about goodness? Maybe once, or twice, hardly more... Listening and talking about someone being good is boring... We take it for granted, nobody cares about the grace, no one remembers. In the time of war, goodness means life, in the peaceful times goodness stays good and sometimes saves lives. This is a story about the moments when goodness touches the soul of a man, as some drop or rock that hits the water, leaving the circles behind. This movie goes around those circles of lives and records their touching, the echo of love. If there is a story about us, people of Earth, it has to be told, and I'm glad I watched it.

This is the movie, like, just waiting for me and I used the opportunity very well to enjoy it all the way. Serbian submission for the 86th Academy Awards in the category of best foreign language movie. I feel this movie deserves to be on the short list, unfortunately it was not.

Superb story telling. It was sliced into multiple pieces according to the characters. Whole story happens behind the incident that takes place at the very beginning of the movie. So the characters who are involved in it takes the different form of emotions to the next 12 years where the most of the movie happens.

As usual like any movie the opening incident was preserved for the end portion to explain. It was not the first time, but it worked fine with the movie. The movie characters were amazing, each of them had their own affairs to deal it. But how all these people are connected to one another is the crucial segment of the story narration.

This movie was actually based on the real event about a Serbian soldier that occurred in the year 1993 during the ethnic war between two religious people. It was very well filmed, capturing the facts in realistic structure including the places. I don't know what made the Oscar people to discard it. It was one of the best movie of the year 2013 but was not noticed largely.

All of us who are from the former Yugoslavia are stunned when a film like this comes out.

My question is always was the war in the former Yugoslavia worth it? The answer is resounding NO! It was one of the most stupid wars since the dawn of mankind.

As far as the film goes, it just is so excellent that it leaves me breathless. They do not make films about people any more, actually they rarely do. This one is must see! Gritty, that is how you can describe former Yugoslavia. And this film shows it well.

For a Westerners it probably looks exotic. Actually it is. Full of PTSD and Paranoid psychosis, created by poverty and nationalistic struggle.

If they ask me what they could do for these peoples to fight less I tell them create Germany on the territories of the former Yugoslavia. I know it is not an easy task, but that is the only solution.

Trebinje kad me vidiš jebi me! I do not know village on this Earth which hurted me more. First in 1943 they destroyed my house in Dubljani, about 30km west of Trebinje, evicted all the Croats from there. Then, in 1991 they burned my house in Mlini near Dubrovnik, they also sent soldiers to bomb my hometown of Sarajevo.

I wish it never existed, but I will never hurt anyone from there, I just am not that kind of person.

This film is very well written, the story is amazingly well performed, we can feel the sorrow that war can cause in the human soul. The music is spectacular, also the way the plot is developed, it keep you attention. It have become one of my favorite films in the last years. Well done! Congratulations !