''Montevideo, God Bless You!'' ( sr, Монтевидео, Бог те видео!, Montevideo, Bog te video!; internationally titled ''Montevideo, Taste of a Dream'') is a 2010 Serbian film directed by

Dragan Bjelogrlić Dragan Bjelogrlić "Bjela" ( sr, Драган Бјелогрлић, ; born 10 October 1963) is a Serbian actor, director and producer. Career Bjelogrlić made his acting debut as a 15-year old, playing Sava Jovanović Sirogojno in ''Boško Buha'' ...

about the events leading to the participation of the

Yugoslavia national football team The Yugoslavia national football team; hr, Jugoslavenska nogometna reprezentacija; sl, Jugoslovanska nogometna reprezentanca; mk, Фудбалска репрезентација на Југославија, Fudbalska reprezentacija na Jugosl ...

at the first FIFA World Cup in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in July 1930. The film gained considerable media attention throughout 2010 and achieved significant box office success in Serbia since its release on December 21, 2010. The entire project has been hugely successful regionally thus far. More than 520,000 people in Serbia saw the first film, which won numerous awards. The story is loosely based on the novel ''Montevideo, Bog te video'' by the prominent Serbian sports journalist Vladimir Stanković. He drew inspiration to write a romanticized depiction of the late 1920s Serbia and the events that popularized the game of football in the country after having watched the American film '' The Game of Their Lives''. The film was awarded the 'Audience Choice Award' for Best Film in the main competition program at the 33rd

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

. It was also Serbia's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist. A sequel, ''

See You in Montevideo ''See You in Montevideo'' ( sr, Монтевидео, видимо се!/''Montevideo, vidimo se!'') is a 2014 Serbian comedy film written and directed by Dragan Bjelogrlić. It is the sequel to the 2010 film '' Montevideo, God Bless You!'' It w ...

'', was released on January 14, 2014. Part of the movie was filmed in the city of

La Laguna LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

Plot

In 1930

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, eleven passionate, mostly anonymous but very talented soccer players and their journey from the cobblestone streets of impoverished Belgrade neighborhoods to the formation of the national team before the very first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in faraway

. So far away that the country's capital,

, seems more a distant dream than a familiar reality. Named after the city where the inaugural World Cup was held, director

's adaptation of journalist Vladimir Stanković's best-selling book centers on the relationship between the two top players: natural talent and poor boy Tirke (

Miloš Biković Miloš Biković ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Биковић, ; born January 13, 1988) is a Serbian actor and producer. His best known films are box office hits '' Serf'' and ''South Wind''. He is also known for his roles in movies ''Sunstroke'' directe ...

) and playboy superstar Moša (

Petar Strugar Petar "Pero" Strugar ( sr, Петар "Перо" Стругар; born 23 May 1988) is a Serbian actor and presenter. Personal life Strugar is a close friend to fellow actor and ''Montevideo, God Bless You!'' co-star Miloš Biković. Petar was mar ...

). The two young men eventually become friends when they're thrown together on the front line of the dominant local team,

BSK Belgrade OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburma, ...

. As the club hierarchy is faced with the challenge of keeping the squad afloat, the opportunity arises to create a national team. However, team unity is strained when Tirke and Moša clash over beautiful women. Rosa ( Danina Jeftić), the voluptuous, small-town innocent who adores Tirke, but her soccer-mad uncle conspires to set her up with Moša; and vampish Valerija (Nina Janković), a rich

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

who seduces Moša and finds much fun in pitting him against Tirke. The initial doubt that surrounded their personal and professional lives is transformed into a shared ambition to prove themselves in Montevideo; as a result, a story about friendship, enthusiasm, persistence and love for the game is unraveled.

Cast

as Aleksandar "Tirke" Tirnanić *

as Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović *

Nina Janković Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms *National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq * Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No incom ...

as Valerija, an eccentric Belgrade artist and painter, who hangs out among Belgrade's elite * Danina Jeftić as Rosa, Tirke's love interest, who works at her uncle Rajko's tavern *

Mima Karadžić Milutin "Mima" Karadžić (born 9 April 1955) is a Montenegrin actor, producer, and occasionally, a singer. Though he had a few notable supporting roles in feature films, the majority of his acting work is tied to television. Milutin Karadzic i ...

as Rajko, owner of the local tavern *

Branimir Brstina Branimir Brstina ( sr-cyr, Бранимир Брстина; born 4 January 1960) is a Serbian actor. References External links * 1960 births Living people People from Kikinda Serbian male television actors Serbian male film actors Z ...

as Bogdan Brica *

Vojin Ćetković Vojin Ćetković ( sr-cyr, Војин Ћетковић; born 22 August 1971) is a Serbian actor. He is best known for his role in the TV series ''Porodično blago''. Selected filmography Television Film Personal life He is married to Sloboda ...

as Mihajlo "Andrejka" Andrejević * Nebojša Ilić as Boško "Dunster" Simonović, who becomes the national team's coach later in the film * Nikola Ðuričko as Živković *

Sergej Trifunović Sergej Trifunović ( sr-cyr, Сергеј Трифуновић, ; born 2 September 1972) is a Serbian actor, comedian, singer, politician and citizen activist.

as Načelnik Komatina * Viktor Savić as Milutin "Milutinac" Ivković * Predrag Vasić as Little Stanoje, a shoeshine boy, he considers himself as Tirke's best friend, and he lives in poor conditions and has a leg deformity *

Srđan Todorović Srđan "Žika" Todorović ( sr-cyr, Срђан "Жика" Тодоровић, ; born 28 March 1965) is a Serbian actor and musician. He has played in numerous bands, including Ekatarina Velika, Disciplina Kičme, Radnička Kontrola and Bezobraz ...

as Bora Jovanović * Boda Ninković as Kustodić *

Anita Mančić Anita Mančić ( sr-cyr, Анита Манчић; born 30 September 1968) is a Serbian actress. She appeared in more than forty films since 1990. Selected filmography References External links * 1968 births Living people People ...

as Đurđa *

Marko Živić Marko Živić (4 April 1972 – 14 October 2021) was a Serbian actor and comedian. Dubbed as a great "showman" by media, Živić started his theatre career in 2002 at the Belgrade Drama Theatre. He initially rose to prominence for his role as L ...

as Isak * Aleksandar Radojčić as Milorad "Balerina" Arsenijević * Uroš Jovicić as Đorđe "Ðokica Nosonja" Vujadinović * Bojan Krivokapić as Momčilo "Gusar" Đokić * Andrija Kuzmanović as Milovan "Jakša" Jakšić * Ivan Zekić as Ivan "Ivica" Bek * Nenad Heraković as Dragoslav "Vampir" Mihajlović * Aleksandar Filimonović as Ljubiša "Leo" Stevanović * Rade Ćosić as

Teofilo Spasojević Teofilo Spasojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Теофило Спасојевић; 21 January 1909 – 28 February 1970) was a Serbian football player. Biography Playing as a left-back, he was known for his classy, elegant style, correctness and excelle ...

* Milan Nikitović as Branislav "Bane" Sekulić * Tamara Dragićević as Eli *

Branislav Lečić Branislav Lečić ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Лечић; born 25 August 1955) is a Serbian actor, director, academic, writer, politician. Known for his versatile portrayals of emotionally vulnerable characters with strong senses of moral justic ...

as King Alexander

Accolades

DVD and TV series

The movie was released on DVD during 2011. On 1 January 2012 it was broadcast on

RTS1 RTS1 (Serbian Cyrillic: РТС1; First program of RTS ( sr, Први програм РТС-а/), First channel of RTS (/ ) or only First (/ )) is a Serbian public mainstream TV channel operated by RTS. Previously on RTS1 Serbian TV series *Ј� ...

, achieving stellar ratings with over 3.1 million viewers. The extended version of the film, including 5 hours of footage unseen in the theatrical cut, began to be broadcast as the eponymous television series on RTS starting 13 February 2012, and onwards weekly every Monday in the 8pm prime time slot. Nine episodes aired, with the first season concluding on 9 April 2012. The second series, titled ''Na putu za Montevideo'', (season two) began on 31 December 2012, this time airing Sundays. The plot now moved to the preparations for the long trip to Uruguay. Nine more episodes were shown concluding on 10 March 2013. In July 2013, the first series began airing in Croatia on

RTL Televizija RTL (previously known as RTL Televizija) is a Croatian free-to-air television network founded on 30 April 2004. It was owned by the RTL Group from 2004 to 2022. Since 1 June 2022, it is owned by the CME Group. The logo consisted of three prima ...

. On 3 August 2013, ''Montevideo, God Bless You!'', aired on the Chinese

CCTV-6 China Movie Channel (), the trade name of (), an agency at the Chinese Government's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. In mainland China, the agency provides programming to the China Central Television chan ...

network."Montevideo" gledali milioni Kineza
B92, 3 August 2013 On 15 January 2014, the sequel feature film '' Montevideo, vidimo se!'' got released in theaters.

References

External links