In my teenage years, I adored the Serbian actor Žarko Laušević, who died earlier this month at the age of 63. Žarko played a Croatian partisan officer, Petar Horvat, in an impressive and poetic Yugoslav film, "Officer with a Rose". In 1987, the film received the prestigious Yugoslav "Golden Arena award".
The film is set in Zagreb in 1945, shortly after the liberation of Zagreb from the occupiers. Petar is involved in the establishment of life in the newly liberated Zagreb, based on the provisions of the newly formed Yugoslavia, which, in addition to liberation from the occupiers, also carried out a socialist revolution. Thus, Petar was given the task of redistributing the roles of the bourgeois class people who cooperated with the occupier. They were punished by confiscation of property and forced labour. There, Petar meets Matilda Ivančić, a beautiful bourgeois woman who lives alone in a large apartment in the centre of Zagreb. Matilda was the wife of a man who worked illegally for partisans, but he was killed at the end of the war. Petar almost sent Matilda to manual labour, but he found out in time about her husband's role in the war. He decides to move into Matilda's apartment together with his partisan girlfriend Ljiljana.
The first part of the film follows the relationship of the three, in which Ljiljana shows admiration for Matilda, and Matilda returns her attention by baking her a cake when Liljana becomes a member of the communist party. At the same time, the attraction between Petar and Matilda develops, which develops into a relationship after Ljiljana leaves Zagreb on official duty. The forbidden love of Patar and Matilda is condemned by the partisans, and Petar himself is torn by his emotions towards Matilda and the values he developed as a partisan and communist. The scene in which he is tired after his partisan assignment and sits alone in his apartment in an armchair and listens to the "bourgeois" music of Wagner is particularly impressive. That image of Žarko has remained in my memory to this day, and I've rarely seen a more handsome actor on film.
The plot of the film ends tragically, and Petar dies in a fight with the remnants of the occupying army. Matilda learns from Ljiljana that she is pregnant, and that Petar married her before his death. Two women mourn Peter, each in their own way. Petar brought hidden roses to both of them, at the time when all three lived together, hence the name of the film "Officer with a Rose".
Kristina
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023
Žarko Laušević kao oficir sa ružom
U svojim tinejdžerskim godinama obožavala sam srpskog glumcua Žarka Lauševica koji je ranije ovog mjeseca preminuo u 63. godini života . Žarko je u jednom dojmljivom i poetičnom jugoslavenskom filmu “Oficir sa ružom” glumio hrvatskog, partizanskog oficira Petra Horvata. Film je 1987. godine dobio prestižnu jugoslavensku nagradu “Golden Arena award”.
Radnja filma smještena je u Zagreb 1945., kratko nakon oslobođenja Zagreba od okupatora. Petar je uključen u uspostavljanje života u novooslobođenom Zagrebu temeljenom na odredbama novonastale Jugoslavije koja je uz oslobođenje od okupatora provodila i socijalističku revoluciju. Tako je Petar dobio u zadatak da preraspodijeli uloge u kojima je dio buržujske klase koja je uz to surađivala sa okupatorom bila kažnjavana oduzimanjem imovine i prisilnim radom. Tu Petar upoznaje lijepu buržujku Matildu Ivančić koja živi sama u velikom stanu u centru Zagreba. Matilda je bila supruga čovjeka koji je ilegalno radio za NOBu, ali on je krajem rata ubijen. Petar je Matildu gotovo poslao na fizički rad, ali je na vrijeme saznao za ulogu njezinog supruga u ratu. On se odlučuje useliti kod Matilde u stan zajedno sa svojom djevojkom partizankom Ljiljanom.
U prvom dijelu filma prati se odnos njih troje u kojima Ljiljana pokazuje divljenje prema Matildi, a Matilda joj vraća pažnjom pa joj peče kolač kad Liljana postaje članica komunističe partije. Paralelno se razvija privlačnost između Petra i Matilde koja prerasta u vezu nakon što Ljiljana po službenoj dužnosti napušta Zagreb. Zabranjena ljubav Patra i Matilde nailazi na osudu sa partizanske strane, a sam Petar je rastrgan emocijama prema Matildi i vrijednostima koje je u sebi razvio kao partizan i komunista. Posebno je dojmljiva scena u kojoj on umoran nakon partizanskog zadatka sjedi sam u stanu, u jednoj fotelji i sluša “buržujsku” muziku Wagnera. Ta mi je Žarkova slika ostala do danas u sjećanju i rijetko da sam poslije na filmu vidjela zgodnijeg glumca.
Radnja filma završava tragično i Petar pogiba u borbi sa ostatcima okupatorske vojske. Matilda saznaje od Ljiljane da je trudna i da ju je Petar prije pogibije oženio. Dvije žene oplakuju Petra, svaka na svoj način. Petar je objema donio ruže skrivečki, u vrijeme kad su svi troje živjeli zajedno i od tuda naziv filma “Oficir sa ružom”.
Kristina
Srijeda, 22. studenog 2023.
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