The ''Foolish Years'' ( sr, Lude godine / Луде године) are a Yugoslav series of films spawned from the 1977 movie of the same name. The original film and its nine sequels were all directed by Zoran Čalić between 1977 and 1992. The series became widely known informally as ''Žikina dinastija'' (''Žika's Dynasty)'', the title of the 7th film (sixth sequel) released in 1985. The informal name of the series parodied the American TV soap opera ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', which was enormously popular throughout Yugoslavia in the mid-1980s. What would eventually turn into a film series began in 1977 with ''Lude godine''. Centered around a teenage couple, Boba (Vladimir Petrović) and Marija (Rialda Kadrić), one of the film's goals was addressing societal issues such as

unprotected sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer sex ...

and teen pregnancy. However, the ensemble of supporting characters—most notably the in-laws Živorad "Žika" Pavlović ( Dragomir Bojanić Gidra) and Milan Todorović ( Marko Todorović)—captured audiences' attention by displaying great comedic potential. This was later exploited in nine subsequent sequels as all of them revolved around the pair of in-laws—wacky working class Žika and strait-laced intellectual Milan—rather than the young couple. Nearly every single film in the series was lambasted by

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

s. Most disliked it for what they saw to be poor directorial choices and crude folksy humour loaded with rural and urban stereotypes that are displayed through the characters of Žika and Milan, respectively. Despite its low-brow reputation, the series proved to be a valuable training ground and career springboard for many acting talents and future stars of Yugoslav/Serb cinema like

Sonja Savić Sonja Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Соња Савић; 15 September 1961 – 23 September 2008) was a Serbian actress, famous for her husky voice and series of impressive roles in some of the more memorable 1980s Yugoslav films. Sonja appeared in Miroslav ...

, Zoran Cvijanović, Nikola Kojo,

Gala Videnović Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *''Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by Th ...

, Branko Đurić and others. Domestically, the films were box-office successes, and were popular in the

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Films

The films in the series are: *''Lude godine'' (''Foolish Years''), (1977) * ''Došlo doba da se ljubav proba'' (''The Time has Come to Taste the Love'') a.k.a. ''Lude godine II'' (''Wacky Years II'', 1980) *''Ljubi, ljubi, al' glavu ne gubi'' (''Kiss, Kiss, but Don't Lose Your Head'', 1981) *''Kakav deda takav unuk'' (''Like Grandpa, Like Grandson'', 1983) *''Idi mi, dođi mi'' (''Come to me and Go from me'', 1983) *''

Šta se zgodi kad se ljubav rodi ''Šta se zgodi kad se ljubav rodi'' is a 1984 Yugoslav comedy film directed by Zoran Čalić. Cast * Dragomir Bojanić – Žika * Marko Todorović – Milan * Vladimir Petrović – Boba * Rialda Kadrić – Marija * Nikola Kojo – Miša * ...

'' (''What Happens When Love Comes to Town'', 1984) *''Žikina dinastija'' (''Žika's Dynasty'', 1985) *''Druga Žikina dinastija'' (''Second Žika's Dynasty'', 1986) *Treća Žikina Dinastija (, Third Zika's Dynasty 1988) *''Žikina ženidba'' (''Žika's Wedding'', 1992), also known as ''Ženidba Žike Pavlovića'' (''The Wedding of Žika Pavlović'') in

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* ''Povratak Žikine dinastije'' (''Žika's Dynasty Returns''), cancelled in 2018 in production phase, due to lack of government funding.

References

Serbian film series Serbian comedy-drama films Serbian-language films Yugoslav comedy-drama films 1977 comedy-drama films Films set in Serbia Films set in Yugoslavia 1980 comedy-drama films Films set in Belgrade Films shot in Belgrade 1981 comedy-drama films 1983 comedy-drama films 1984 comedy-drama films 1985 comedy-drama films 1986 comedy-drama films 1988 comedy-drama films {{Serbia-film-stub