Tri (Three). 1965. Yugoslavia. Written and directed by Aleksandar Petrović. Story by Antonije Isaković. With Bata Živojinović, Kole Angelovski, Stole Aranđelović, Dragomir Bojanić. In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles. DCP. 80 min.
Classical master and breathtaking innovator Aleksandar Petrović is a Yugoslav household name—and the auteur who brought Yugoslav cinema to international acclaim. A man of great character and perceptive feeling, Petrović creates work that is distinct in its portrayals of people’s inner lives; the poetic treatment of characters, drama, and music; and an unabated concern for communities rarely portrayed on screen. Three is a powerful film that takes the form of a triptych with stories set before, during, and after the Second World War. In the first, a student observes the murder of an innocent man; in the second, a cat-and-mouse game sees two partisans hunted in the mountains by German military; and in the third, an officer meets eyes with a woman sentenced for execution. The stories in this masterful study of human conscience, agency, and action in the face of death are connected by three characters played by the legendary actor Velimir Bata Živojinović, and feature marvelous cinematography by Tomislav Pinter. Three took the top prize at Karlovy Vary, attracted praise at the New York Film Festival in 1966, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. It’s the perfect introduction to Yugoslav cinema, and a strong contender for one of the best films ever made.