''Leptirica'' ( sr-Cyrl, Лептирица, translation "The Butterfly") is a

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

Yugoslav

Made-for-TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

horror film based on the story ''After Ninety Years'' (1880) written by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n writer

Milovan Glišić Milovan Glišić (6 January 1847 – 20 January 1908) was a Serbian writer, dramatist, translator, and literary theorist. He is sometimes referred to as ''the Serbian Gogol''. Legacy Glišić is considered to be one of the best translator ...

. It was directed by the Serbian director

Đorđe Kadijević Đorđe Kadijević ( sr-cyr, Ђорђе Кадијевић; 6 January 1933) is a Serbian and Yugoslav film director, screenwriter and art critic. Kadijević is well known for his horror films and for TV series ''Vuk Karadžić'', which won the Gr ...

. ''Leptirica'' was the first Serbian horror movie and is considered one of the top Serbian and former Yugoslav horror films. The movie was filmed in the village of Zelinje, near the river

Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whi ...

, close to the city of

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in Republika Srpska, on the left bank of the Drina river. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. The town of Mali Zvornik ("Little Zvornik") lies ...

. The mill that appears in the movie is still in its original location.

After Ninety Years

The script for the film was adapted from the novella ''After Ninety Years'' by

from 1880. He was a writer of folklore-fantasy whose sources were Serbian and Balkan folk superstitions and folk belief in

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

s. In it, realistic images from village life are constantly mixed with the world of fantasy, humor and folklore

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

, vampirism and

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sc ...

Plot

An old miller hears strange sounds coming from the woods. While he sleeps, a millstone suddenly stops working and a strange human-like creature with black hands and long teeth and nails bites his neck. After the opening scene, the film turns to a romance between a poor young man Strahinja (

Petar Božović Petar "Pera" Božović ( sr, Петар Божовић; born 22 May 1946) is a Serbian actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theat ...

) and a beautiful girl Radojka ( Mirjana Nikolić). Radojka is the daughter of landowner Živan ( Slobodan Perović), who refuses to allow her to marry Strahinja. Disappointed, Strahinja leaves his village and goes to Zarožje. He meets peasants discussing the cursed mill and accepts their offer to become the new miller. He spends the night in the mill and survives the attack of the creature, finding out its name -

Sava Savanović Sava Savanović ( sr-cyr, Сава Савановић) is one of the most famous vampires in Balkan and Serbian folklore. Legend Sava Savanović was said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the m ...

. The villagers visit the oldest woman in a neighboring village and ask her if there is a grave of someone called Sava Savanović somewhere nearby. After finding the place where his body is buried, they nail a stake through the coffin and a butterfly flies out of his mouth. The peasants help Strahinja take Radojka from her home and bring her to Zarožje. During the night, while the villagers are preparing the wedding, Strahinja sneaks into his future wife's room while she is asleep. As he undresses her, he discovers a bloody hole under her breasts and realizes it is from the stake they used to impale Sava's coffin. Radojka opens her eyes and transforms into a disgusting hairy creature which climbs onto Strahinja's neck while he is trying to run away. She leads him to Sava's grave where he manages to take the stake out of the coffin and impale her. The film ends with Strahinja lying motionlessly on the ground and a butterfly in his hair moving its wings.

Cast

* Mirjana Nikolić as Radojka *

as Strahinja * Slobodan Perović as Živan * Vasja Stanković as Kmet * Aleksandar Stojković as a peasant * Tanasaije Uzunović as The priest * Ivan Đurđević as a peasant *

Branko Petković Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babić ...

as a peasant * Toma Kuruzović as Vule

Trivial things

*The film was made in 1973 more than 90 years after the first publication of the novella '' After Ninety Years'' in 1880. *Film director Đorđe Kadijević later stated that he wanted the film to be a comedy, but it became more of a horror. *During the premiere screening of the film in 1973 on the Yugoslav Public Television Service, a man suddenly died of fear.

References

External links

''Leptirica (Full Movie)''
on

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