Profesionalac

''The Professional'' ( sr, Професионалац / ''Profesionalac'') is a 2003 Serbian comedy/drama film, written and directed by Dušan Kovačević and based on his 1990 play of the same name. The film enjoys cult status and is a dark comedic retrospect of the relationship between dissenters and the State Security Service under the regime of Slobodan Milošević.

It was nominated for seven awards of which it received five.

Plot

In 2001, former professor of literature at Belgrade University, Teodor "Teja" Kraj is now a manager of a big publishing house. His workers are just about to go on strike, protesting against the privatization of the company, led by a man named Jovan. Teja satirically brushes off the workers' demands and continues to plan for a meal with his secretary and lover, Marta, to celebrate his 48th birthday.

A strange man shows up at Teja's office carrying a briefcase and a large suitcase and insisting to speak with him. Teja reluctantly accepts, and the man claims he is a writer, presenting Teja with four books ready to be published. He implies the books contain classified information and says they were bound in secret by his daughter. They're interrupted by Jovan, who tries to get Teja to meet with the striking workers. He gets told off by Teja for brutishly yelling at Marta, and proudly admits to beating his wife.

The mysterious man speaks with Teja about the books, collections of stories from the countryside and city life, a collection of speeches and a mysterious fourth book. Teja promises to read through the books and tries to send the man off. However, the man reveals he won't be returning, and that he's scheduled for a potentially deadly operation. He finally introduces himself as Luka Laban, a former officer of the State Security. He claims to have been following Teja for ten years, reporting on his movements on a daily basis. After Luka was retired in the aftermath of the 5 October Overthrow, his daughter compiled all his daily reports into four books, all listing Teja as the author. Luka reveals his daughter was Teja's ex-girlfriend Ana, who is now married in Canada, and wants nothing to do with her father.

The film then presents several stories of how Luka managed to either observe Teja or, on some occasions, infiltrate his circle – consisting of a fat, grumpy and drunk man named Maki, and a quirky, boastful and constantly injured man named Gipsani. In all of these situations, Teja was fighting against the Milošević regime, and Luka was right behind him monitoring his movements. On several occasions, Marta and the striking workers enter Teja's office and misunderstand his and Luka's interaction as attempted murder or sexual advances.

Luka first learned of Teja during the 9 March protests in 1991, where Teja held a speech. Luka observed Teja from a live camera. He suggested staging a car accident with Teja to his superiors but was denied. The film cuts to a scene in 1993 when Luka, posing as a newspaper salesman, was invited to sit with Teja, Maki and Gipsani at a kafana. Luka was a staunch communist at the time and loathed Teja for his anti-communist rants. When Teja narrowly avoided a fight with the other guests, he started hallucinating and left the table with talk of killing himself. Luka followed Teja to the bathroom and tried to hang Teja with his belt, making it look like a suicide, but narrowly missed his cubicle and almost hanged a different man.

Teja doubts the validity of Luka's story since Luka references high art frequently. Luka replies that he acquired an understanding of art and philosophy by following Teja, and was completely clueless about everything other than the works of Marx, Engels

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