Leptirica
Encyclopedia
Leptirica is a 1973
former Yugoslav horror
TV movie
based on the story After Ninety Years (1880) written by Serbia
n writer Milovan Glišić
. Leptirica is considered one of the top Serbian and former Yugoslav horror films.
After the opening scene the film turns to a romance between a poor young man Strahinja (Petar Božović
) and a beautiful girl Radojka (Mirjana Nikolić). Radojka is the daughter of landowner Živan (Slobodan Perović) who refuses to allow her to marry Strahinja. Disappointed, Strahinja leaves his village and goes to Zarožje. He meets peasants discussing about the cursed mill and accepts their offer to become the new miller. He spends the night in the mill and survives the attack of the creature, finding out its name - Sava Savanović
. The villagers visit the oldest woman in the neighbouring village and ask her if there is a grave of somemone called Sava Savanović somewhere nearby. After finding the place where his body is buried, they nail down a stake through the coffin and a butterfly flies out of it.
The peasants help Strahinja to take Radojka from her home and take her to Zarožje. During the night, while the villagers are preparing the wedding, Strahinja sneaks into his future wife's room while she is asleep. As he undresses her, he discovers a bloody hole under her breasts. Radojka opens her eyes and transforms into a disgusting hairy creature and manages to climb onto Strahinja's neck while he is trying to run away. She leads him away to the grave where he manages to take the stake out of the coffin and nail her body.
The film ends with Strahija's body lying motionlessly on the ground and the butterfly in his hair moving its wings.
1973 in film
The year 1973 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. Blakely would later marry actor/singer Frank Sinatra....
former Yugoslav horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
TV movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
based on the story After Ninety Years (1880) written by 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...
n writer Milovan Glišić
Milovan Glišic
Milovan Glišić was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as the Serbian Gogol.-Biography:...
. Leptirica is considered one of the top Serbian and former Yugoslav horror films.
Plot
The opening scene shows an old miller in a mill listening to strange sounds coming from the woods. While he sleeps a millstone suddenly stops working and a strange human-like creature with black hands and long teeth and nails bites his neck.After the opening scene the film turns to a romance between a poor young man Strahinja (Petar Božović
Petar Božovic
Petar Božović is a popular actor from Serbia.-Selected filmography:* U raskoraku * Leptirica * The Secret of Nikola Tesla * Pogled sa Ajfelovog tornja * Optimisti...
) and a beautiful girl Radojka (Mirjana Nikolić). Radojka is the daughter of landowner Živan (Slobodan Perović) who refuses to allow her to marry Strahinja. Disappointed, Strahinja leaves his village and goes to Zarožje. He meets peasants discussing about the cursed mill and accepts their offer to become the new miller. He spends the night in the mill and survives the attack of the creature, finding out its name - Sava Savanović
Sava Savanovic
Sava Savanović is one of the most famous vampires in Serbian folklore.-Legend:Sava Savanović was said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the municipality of Bajina Bašta. It was said that he killed and drank the blood of the millers when they came to...
. The villagers visit the oldest woman in the neighbouring village and ask her if there is a grave of somemone called Sava Savanović somewhere nearby. After finding the place where his body is buried, they nail down a stake through the coffin and a butterfly flies out of it.
The peasants help Strahinja to take Radojka from her home and take her to Zarožje. During the night, while the villagers are preparing the wedding, Strahinja sneaks into his future wife's room while she is asleep. As he undresses her, he discovers a bloody hole under her breasts. Radojka opens her eyes and transforms into a disgusting hairy creature and manages to climb onto Strahinja's neck while he is trying to run away. She leads him away to the grave where he manages to take the stake out of the coffin and nail her body.
The film ends with Strahija's body lying motionlessly on the ground and the butterfly in his hair moving its wings.
Cast
- Mirjana Nikolić as Radojka
- Petar BožovićPetar BožovicPetar Božović is a popular actor from Serbia.-Selected filmography:* U raskoraku * Leptirica * The Secret of Nikola Tesla * Pogled sa Ajfelovog tornja * Optimisti...
as Strahinja - Slobodan PetrovićSlobodan PetrovićSlobodan Petrović is a Kosovar politician, who is one of five Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Kosovo. He is also head of the Independent Liberal Party and a member of the Kosovo Assembly.-Career:...
as Živan - Vasja Stanković as Kmet
- Aleksandar Stojković as a peasant
- Tanasaije Uzunović as The priest
- Ivan Đurđević as a peasant
- Branko Petković as a peasant
- Toma Kuruzović as Vule
See also
- Cinema of YugoslaviaCinema of Yugoslavia-SFR Yugoslavia:The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had an internationally acclaimed film industry.Prominent male actors included Danilo Bata Stojković, Ljuba Tadić, Bekim Fehmiu, Fabijan Šovagović, Mustafa Nadarević, Bata Živojinović, Boris Dvornik, Ljubiša Samardžić, Dragan Nikolić and...
- Cinema of SerbiaCinema of SerbiaThe Cinema of Serbia comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Serbia or by Serbian filmmakers abroad.Serbia has been home to many internationally acclaimed films and directors.-Serbian theatre and cinema:Serbia has a well-established theatrical tradition with many...
- List of films based on Slavic mythology