- Title: YUGOSLAVIA: OLIVER STONE BRINGS A WAR TIME MOVIE, "SAVIOUR" BACK TO THE BALKANS
- Date: 1st May 1998
- Summary: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA (MAY 1, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) SINGER BILJANA KRSTIC (PERFORMS FILM'S MUSICAL SCORE) SINGING LIVE OVER FILM CREDITS
- Embargoed: 16th May 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA
- Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Reuters ID: LVABBBCAIK58MKY0BOOHYS65E3C8
- Story Text: Nearly three years after peace was signed in Bosnia, Hollywood producer Oliver Stone has brought a war time movie back to the Balkans.
A staggering 4,500 Belgraders attended the Yugoslav premiere of teh anti-war film "Savior", starring Dennis Quaid and Natassja Kinski, directed by acclaimed Yugoslav Predrag "Gaga" Antonijevic.
Quaid and many of the cast and director took a curtain call at the end of the Belgrade premiere.
The U.S.actor plays Guy, a French American whose life is derailed when his wife Maria (Kinski) dies from some bad heroin that he bought from a dealer.
Guy shoots the dealer, joins the French Foreign legion and eventually winds up as a mercenary sniper for the Serbs in the Bosnian war.
He becomes dehumanised by his experiences, but finds salvation when he rescues a newborn Croatian baby orphaned by the bloodshed.
Shooting for the film was fraught with financial and political difficulties."There were a lot of things we had to deal with," Antonijevic explained."When sanctions hit the country, a lot of things disappeared.You have to start all over from the beginning - it takes time." Stone succeeded in assembling an award-winning crew, including Oscar winning Italian editor Gabriella Cristiani, whose credits include "The Last Emperor" and "La Luna".
Director of Photography Ian Wilson previously worked on UK productions "Emma" and "The Crying Game".
Robert Orr wrote the screenplay, which he based on a true story.
Some scenes set in France were actually shot in the tiny Yugoslav town of Kotor, while Antonijevic chose the scenic mountains of the former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro to represent parts of Bosnia.
"Gaga" Antonijevic is well known in his native Yugoslavia for films such as "Mala" (The Little One) and "O Polojniku Sve Najlepse".
Although the sensitively shot film may not make it to the the box office, Quaid declared its importance as an anti-war film."It makes people think, it's a film that should be seen," he told Reuters.
Some 200,000 people died in Bosnia during 43 months of war between Serbs, Croats and Moslems.
Quaid's many credits include "The Big Easy", "Dragonheart", and "The Right Stuff", whilst Kinski won a Golden Glove for her role in Roman Polanski's "Tess".
Veteran Stone lists classics such as "Wall Street", "Platoon", "The Doors", "JFK"and the controversial "Natural Born Killers" among his credits.
"Savior" initially premiered in Spain and opens in England and France later in May.It makes its U.S.premier in October. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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