''The Way Steel Was Tempered'' ( sh, Tako se kalio čelik) is a 1988 Yugoslav film directed by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n director

Želimir Žilnik Želimir Žilnik ( sr-cyr, Желимир Жилник; ; born 8 September 1942) is a Serbian film director best known as one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave film movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Žilnik was born in 194 ...

. It was nominated for a Golden St. George award at the

16th Moscow International Film Festival The 16th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 July 1989. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Italian film ''The Icicle Thief'' directed by Maurizio Nichetti. Jury * Andrzej Wajda (Poland – President of the Jury) * Ge ...

and has been screened at festivals worldwide such as the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

. It was also shown at the

Pyongyang Film Festival The Pyongyang International Film Festival is a biennial cultural exhibition held in Pyongyang, North Korea. Until 2002, the film festival was reserved to "non-aligned and other developing countries". History The event originated in 1987 as the Py ...

Plot

steel worker Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

, Leo, tries to live a carefree life, but his progress towards that goal is impeded by the steel mill management that does its best to earn a

profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...

before the steel bubble bursts and the company goes under. Leo and his comrades are faced with a bleak and uncertain future. As this trouble with his employment goes on, he meets a woman named Verica and becomes involved in an

extramarital affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

with her. His wife, Ruža, fed up with her husband's constant cheating and dishonesty

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

s him and goes back to live with her parents, leaving Leo behind. As she takes her leave, she meets Michel, the head of security at Leo's steel mill. Michel is a

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

and an ex-

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

. After seeing them together, Leo is faced with emotional turmoil and manages to lose his job after a

jealous Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. ...

outburst. In a fit of anger Leo attempts to knock down a monument in the town square, and is sent to

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. Oddly enough, after being sent to prison Leo ends up working back at the steel mill, as the factory and the prison have a deal in using prisoners as general laborers. Foreign business partners arrive and they are very impressed with the historic appearance of the mill and the workers that they decide that the whole place be put under

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

. The foreign partners, being passionate collectors of

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

take a liking to Leo and take him with them as a "perfect specimen." Several years later he returns - triumphantly - driving a new

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

car.

Cast

Lazar Ristovski Lazar "Laza" Ristovski ( sr-Cyrl, Лазар Ристовски, born 26 October 1952) is a Serbian retired actor, director, producer and writer. He has appeared on stage about 4,000 times, and starred in over 40 films, TV series and TV dramas, ...

as Leo * Tatjana Pujin as Lili *

Relja Bašić Relja Bašić (14 February 1930 – 7 April 2017) was a Croatian actor. With a career that lasted more than half a century, he is considered one of the most prolific performers of that country. Biography Bašić was born on 14 February 1930 i ...

as Michel *

Ljiljana Blagojević Ljiljana Blagojević ( sr-cyr, Љиљана Благојевић; born 5 November 1955 in Belgrade, Serbia PR Serbia in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia">Yugoslavia]) is a Serbian theater, film, and television actress. She is married to ...

as Ruža

References

External links

*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Way Steel Was Tempered 1988 films Serbo-Croatian-language films 1980s Serbian-language films Films directed by Želimir Žilnik Serbian drama films Yugoslav drama films Films set in Novi Sad 1988 drama films Films shot in Serbia