THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE IMMORTAL LEADER KARADJORDJE (1911)

THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF THE IMMORTAL LEADER KARADJORDJE (Serbian: Живот и дела бесмртног вожда Карађорђа, romanized: Život i dela besmrtnog vožda Karađorđa), or simply Karađorđe (Serbian Cyrillic: Карађорђе), is a 1911 Serbian silent film directed by Ilija Stanojević and starring Milorad Petrović. It was the first feature film released in Serbia and the Balkans. Petrović portrays the eponymous rebel leader Karađorđe, who led the First Serbian Uprising of 1804–1813.

PLOT:
The film opens with an adolescent Karađorđe (Milorad Petrović) killing an Ottoman official (Ilija Stanojević). The murder turns Karađorđe into a fugitive. Following an unsuccessful rebellion against the Ottomans, Karađorđe is forced to flee Serbia and seek refuge in the Austrian Empire, across the Sava River. When Karađorđe's stepfather threatens to expose Karađorđe's plans to the Ottomans, he kills him. After spending a period of time in Austria, Karađorđe returns to Serbia. In February 1804, following the Slaughter of the Knezes, surviving Serbian notables gather at the Orašac Assembly and decide to rebel against the Dahije, the renegade Janissaries who precipitated the massacre. The notables propose that Karađorđe lead the insurrection, given his prior military experience. He initially declines their offer, but ultimately relents; the First Serbian Uprising begins. The Dahije soon foresee their downfall, witnessing their fates reflected in a bowl of water drawn from the Danube.

Karađorđe defeats the Dahije, but ends up turning on the Sultan, who had earlier offered to support Karađorđe in his struggle against the rogue Janissaries. Karađorđe scores a string of victories against the Porte, routing the Ottomans at the Battle of Mišar, and eventually seizing Belgrade. The uprising continues for nearly a decade but is ultimately defeated and Karađorđe is forced to flee to Austria once again. In 1817, he decides to return to Serbia to lead a new rebellion. Karađorđe's chief rival, Miloš Obrenović, is made aware of this development. He arranges a meeting with Vujica Vulićević, an erstwhile friend of Karađorđe now on Obrenović's payroll, and orders that Karađorđe be killed. When Karađorđe returns to Serbia, Vulićević offers him a tent in a forest, and while he is sleeping, shoots and kills him with a rifle. The film ends with a passage from The Mountain Wreath, an epic poem written by Njegoš, the national poet of Serbia and Montenegro. The actors then perform a curtain call.

CAST:
Milorad Petrović as Karađorđe, the leader of the First Serbian Uprising
Ilija Stanojević as Vujica Vulićević, a sipahi and a sycophantic follower of Karađorđe
Jevrem Božović as five different characters, including Karađorđe's father and Miloš Obrenović
Sava Todorović as Mehmed-aga Fočić, one of the leaders of the Dahije
Dragoljub Sotirović as Hajduk Veljko and Karađorđe's brother, Marinko
Vukosava Jurković as Marica, Karađorđe's mother
Dobrica Milutinović as Janko Katić, one of the organizers of the First Serbian Uprising
Aleksandar Milojević as Mateja Nenadović, one of the leaders of the First Serbian Uprising
Milorad Petrović as an adolescent Karađorđe