The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe

Portrait of Karađorđe by Vladimir Borovikovsky, c. 1816

Serbia's first movie theatre, the Paris Cinema, located inside the eponymous Hotel Paris, at Belgrade's Terazije Square, was opened by the hotelier Svetozar Botorić in December 1908.[1][2] Up until that point, films could only be viewed in traveling theatres which periodically visited Serbia's large cities. Very few members of the country's intelligentsia considered cinema to have any cultural value and fewer still deemed it financially rewarding. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Botorić was convinced that film could be turned into a profitable endeavour. In 1909, he signed a contract with the French cinematographic firm Pathé, becoming their representative in Serbia and Bulgaria. In this capacity, he held exclusive Balkan premieres of Pathé's films in his hotel. Botorić also regularly produced newsreels about local events on Pathé's behalf, with the firm providing filming equipment and a cameraman (Louis de Beéry), and Botorić giving them a share of his admission profits.[3] In 1911, Botorić teamed up with the prominent stage actor Ilija Stanojević to establish the Union for the Production of Serbian Films (Serbian: Udruženje za snimanje srpskih filmova).[4]

Botorić was inspired to produce feature films after seeing Charles Le Bargy and André Calmettes's The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (French: L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise), an early example of narrative cinema.[5] Up until that point, all films made in Serbia were documentary and ethnological films, covering events of historical significance such as official functions and state ceremonies to events of a more banal nature, such as common people on Belgrade's streets going about their daily lives.[6] Immediately, Botorić came upon the idea of producing a film about the 19th-century revolutionary Karađorđe. The Karađorđević dynasty, with King Peter at its head, had returned to power in 1903 through a coup d'état, usurping the rival Obrenović dynasty. Owing to the violent nature of the coup, the Karađorđević dynasty faced several years of international isolation. Improving the royal family's public image abroad was thus made a priority.[5] Botorić, who hoped to secure government funding for his future cinematic endeavors, thus felt that a feature film about Karađorđe would improve cinema's reputation domestically and increase its profile in the eyes of Serbia's leaders.[7]

Karađorđe was based on a number of sources, namely an eponymous stage play by the playwright Miloš Cvetić, various biographies and hagiographies about the rebel leader, as well as the epic poem The Start of the Revolt Against the Dahijas (Serbian: Početak bune protiv dahija), which is traditionally attributed to the bard Filip Višnjić.[6] The film's screenplay was written by Stanojević, Ćira Manok,[lower-alpha 1] and an individual credited only by their surname, "Savković".[9]

In order to lend the project greater credibility, Botorić enlisted actors from the National Theatre for the film.[10] Milorad Petrović, a veteran stage actor, was given the role of Karađorđe.[9] The child actor who played the adolescent Karađorđe was coincidentally also named Milorad Petrović.[11] Jevrem Božović played five different characters, including Karađorđe's father and Karađorđe's rival Miloš Obrenović. Sava Todorović was cast as Mehmed-aga Fočić, one of the leaders of the Dahije. Stanojević played Vulićević, as well as a sipahi and a sycophantic follower. Matija Nenadović was played by Aleksandar Milojević. The part of Hajduk Veljko was played by Dragoljub Sotirović, who also played the part of Karađorđe's brother Marinko. Dobrica Milutinović appeared on screen as the rebel leader Janko Katić. Vukosava Jurković played the role of Karađorđe's mother, Marica.[9]

Karađorđe was directed by Stanojević.[12] The film had a total budget of 20,000 dinars.[13] Botorić had attempted to persuade the Royal Serbian Government to finance the film, but without success.[10] Karađorđe was filmed in Belgrade and its environs.[9] Principal photography lasted from mid-July to mid-August 1911.[13] De Beéry, whom Botorić had employed to film newsreels in the past, was the film's cinematographer.[9] Outdoor scenes, such as the ones depicting the Orašac Assembly and the Battle of Mišar, were shot on the banks of the Danube and the Sava, mostly at Ada Ciganlija, as well as at the Belgrade Fortress, Topčider park, and the Banjica forest.[9] More than 1,000 extras were used.[14] Indoor scenes were filmed at the Hotel Paris, with props and set pieces provided by the National Theatre.[9] Once filming was complete, the negatives were sent to Paris to be developed by Pathé.[15]

Contemporary newspaper advertisement

Karađorđe premiered at the Hotel Paris on 23 October [O.S. 10 October] 1911.[6] This screening was attended only by members of the press.[16] The same day, the film was screened before King Peter at what is now referred to as the Old Palace.[13] It premiered before the general public on 30 November [O.S. 17 November] 1911, also at the Hotel Paris.[16] Although officially titled The Life and Deeds of the Immortal Leader Karađorđe (Serbian: Život i dela besmrtnog vožda Karađorđa), the film was simply distributed as Karađorđe.[5][7] It was the first feature film to be released in Serbia, as well as in the Balkans more broadly.[17][18][19][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]

Karađorđe was a financial success domestically.[5] A review published in the Belgrade daily Večernje novosti, dated 24 October [O.S. 11 October] 1911, states: "The picture was well choreographed, with clean camerawork. ... [I]t will cause a real sensation wherever it is shown."[23][lower-alpha 4] Although successful domestically, Pathé refused to distribute the film abroad and reached a similar business decision with regard to its sister film, Ulrich of Cilli and Ladislaus Hunyadi (Serbian: Ulrih Celjski i Vladislav Hunjadi).[5] Instead, Pathé opted for an ethnographic short whose subject was a Romani wedding at Ada Ciganlija, which became the first Serbian film to be screened abroad.[24][lower-alpha 5] Because Pathé had decided against distributing Karađorđe internationally, Botorić relied on the film's domestic box office revenue to recoup expenses, which it was barely able to cover.[5]

Having invested significant amounts of time and money in feature films and receiving little in return, Botorić decided that they were not worth the effort.[10] Commercial film production came to a virtual halt following the outbreak of World War I.[26] During the Austro-Hungarian, German and Bulgarian invasion of Serbia in late 1915, Botorić was taken prisoner. He died in an Austro-Hungarian internment camp the following year.[2] Stanojević was also apparently dissuaded from partaking in feature films and remained committed to theatrical performances for the remainder of his life. De Beéry resumed filming newsreels.[10]

A still from the film depicting Karađorđe (centre) standing among his followers

The film was last screened before a group of Serbian émigrés in the United States in 1928.[6] A copy of it existed in Belgrade until 1947 or 1948, when its owner tossed it into the Danube to avoid being persecuted by Yugoslavia's new communist government.[14][lower-alpha 6] Film historians and archivists began searching for a surviving print of Karađorđe as early as 1963. In response to inquiries from the Yugoslav Film Archive, Pathé announced that it did not possess a film titled Karađorđe in its archives. It also stated that it had no record of a cinematographer named Louis de Beéry ever being on its payroll. In 1969, on behalf of the Yugoslav Film Archive, the film historian Dejan Kosanović examined the collection of the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, to no avail. In 1992, the premises of the Royal Compound in Belgrade's prestigious Dedinje neighbourhood were searched after a tip from Prince Tomislav, who stated that his father, King Alexander, once had a copy of the film in his possession and viewed it regularly. The search did not yield any results.[13]

In the early 2000s, scholars from the Yugoslav Film Archive resumed their attempts to find a surviving print of the film. The effort was spearheaded by Aleksandar Erdeljanović and Radoslav Zelenović of the Yugoslav Film Archive.[6] In the course of his research, Erdeljanović discovered that de Beéry was a Hungarian cinematographer, not a French one, whose real name was Lajos Zoltan Árpád Pitrolf, thus resolving the mystery of why Pathé did not have him listed on their payroll.[28] In 2003, Erdeljanović came into contact with Nikolaus Wostry, the director of the Austrian Film Archive in Vienna. Wostry informed him that his institution was in possession of a number of early 20th century Serbian films, including a feature film. When Wostry described the contents of the feature, Erdeljanović became convinced that the Austrian Film Archive had a copy of Karađorđe in its possession.[16] On 16 July 2003,[10] Erdeljanović visited the Austrian Film Archive to view the footage for himself, after which he confirmed that the print in the archive's possession was in fact Karađorđe.[16]

Damaged, but largely intact, the print was found among the effects of Ignaz Reinthaler, who had owned a cinema in Osijek before and during World War I, but relocated to Austria following Austria-Hungary's dissolution.[29] It had been donated to the Austrian Film Archive by Reinthaler's widow more than twenty years earlier.[16]