“Two centuries ago to the day, Prince Mihailo Obrenović, one of the most important Serbian rulers, was born. When he was murdered, Serbia stopped,” director, scriptwriter, and famous chaser in the TV quiz show Potera (The Chase) Milorad Milinković says in his interview with Kurir on the occasion of his new work - Što se bore misli moje (Why Do My Thoughts Struggle So).
A film that is concerned with the prince’s murder and the events leading up to this tragic event in Košutnjak in 1868, starring Dragan Mićanović, will hit the local movie theatres next week. In the interview with Kurir, Milinković also touches on the success of our athletes and the reason why Serbs are still very divided as a society, as much as they were one and a half century ago.
Your name has somehow been mostly associated with such comedies as Mrtav Ladan (Frozen Stiff), Čitulja za Eskobara (Obituary for Escobar, or Crni Gruja. How did you come up with the idea to make a film about Prince Mihailo Obrenović, and in the form of a thriller, no less?
“I’ve always been interested in history and political thrillers, but I never had the opportunity to make them. The pieces have somehow fallen into place. I’m against the idea of people doing one and the same thing that they are good at all their lives because there’s no need for that. I have many things I want to say as a director in different genres.”
What has inspired you the most in his life?
“Many things. In order to understand his stature, let it be said that he managed to drive out the Turkish Army from the country without shedding a drop of blood. If we don’t include occupations, foreign boots have never stood on Serbia’s ground again. One year after what Mihailo did, he was murdered, convinced that no Serb would raise their hand against him as he had freed them from slavery and a foreign power after so many years. Still, other forces had a role in this. The film Why Do My Thoughts Struggle So isn’t a picture of Serbia at the time, but at all times. It’s not easy being a small country surrounded by great powers, having to look after and fight for its own interests. We still cannot escape from that nowadays.”
The film shows us the seven last days of his life...
“It made sense when I was writing the script. Seven days is a nice period. It might have been five or ten too.”
How did you combine fiction and history?
“We held on to the historically known facts, but there are a bunch of holes in this story. They were never able to prove who was behind the assassination, and it isn’t known to the present day where Regent Milivoje Petrović Blaznavac had been that night, from the murder until the morning. There are various sorts of theories.”
To what extent did his love story provide the momentum? Katarina married Blaznavac.
“The reason for his murder has nothing to do with the fact that wanted to marry his cousin Katarina Konstantinović, but it does speak volumes about him as a person. It was very important to him as he was a great romantic. The big age difference between them and the fact they were related weren’t huge problems back in the day. The Church mostly minded the fact that they were close cousins.”
Prince Mihailo was a politician ahead of his time. Would such a visionary be welcome in Serbia today?
“A visionary like Prince Mihailo would be welcome in Serbia today, as he would in any other country. I think that he wasn’t killed so that we could move forward in a better direction. Serbia simply stopped. The things that Mihailo wanted to do were delayed by 44 years. So, the Balkan Wars and everything the Karađorđević Family did were the essence of Mihailo’s policies. He ousted the Turks without shedding blood, which in the 19th century – and even today – was like you discovered electricity.”
How would he solve the problem of Kosovo? If there is indeed a solution that would be the least bad for us in the first place...
“I don’t want to think about that too much. I wouldn’t want to go into the topic of daily politics – it’s a complicated question, and I’m just a filmmaker. The Kosovo problem should be solved by people who are much more knowledgeable than I am. In a similar vein, the football manager Jürgen Klopp was asked what he thought about the coronavirus, and he replied: ‘Guys, I’m a football manager, not a doctor. Why are you asking me?’ I don’t have an opinion because I know little about politics and I’m not a politician. [laughs]“
Divisions in our society are evident, and this was visible recently, during the welcoming of our sports champions… In your film, you insist on the divisions between the Karađorđević and Obrenović families.
“It’s not just about the Karađorđević and Obrenović families. One of the assassins, Kosta Radovanović, was a Republican. There’s still a saying that goes, ‘Two Serbs, three political parties.’ Divisions are deeply rooted in the Serbian mentality.”
You like sport as well. How do you comment on the success of the basketball team at the World Cup?
“Congratulations to those boys and, of course, to Svetislav Pešić. Everyone was sad that we hadn’t won the gold medal. No one thought they had a chance to win the group matches, let alone a medal. Their results are fantastic.”
What about the Partizan basketball players?
“Also a great success. Željko Obradović is my favourite coach, and I’m saying this publicly!”
Kurir.rs/ Ljubomir Radanov
Bonus video: