Davitelj protiv davitelja

Infobox Film
name = Davitelj protiv davitelja


caption =
director = Slobodan Šijan
producer =
writer = Slobodan Šijan
Nebojša Pajkić
starring = Taško Načić
Srđan Šaper
Sonja Savić
Nikola Simić
music = Srđan Šaper
Vuk Kulenović
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Centar film
released = 1984
runtime = 93 min.
country = flagicon|YUG
language = Serbo Croatian
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0087123

"Davitelj protiv davitelja: komedija strave i užasa" (English: The Strangler vs. the Strangler) is a Yugoslav cult movie featuring a combination of comedy, thriller and horror which is best described in the movie subtitle as "The comedy of horror".

Plot

I'd wish for the entire humanity to have one neck with my hands around it.
Carl Panzram

In the mid 1980s Belgrade finally gets its first serial killer: an awkward carnation flowers seller called Pera Mitić (played by Taško Načić). Mitić is an overweight 48-year-old man who is in an Oedipus kind of way connected to his aging mother. His mother often punishes him when he does not sell any of the carnation flowers. His punishments include kneeling on nutshell while being slapped by his mother or being locked in the water tank. This is the reason why he starts killing every girl who refuses to buy his flowers. Mitić's character can be comapred to Norman Bates's character and relationship with his mother.

After the first murder, mostly incompetent inspector Ognjen Strahinjić (played by Nikola Simić) starts the investigation. His attempt to catch the strangler by employing an undercover agent ends up tragically. Strahinjić is a loner who lives only with his cat George, who is his best friend. He is a short man, with thin mustache and is simmilar to Inspector Clouseau from the Blake Edwards's "The Pink Panther" series. The plot gets even more complicated when a rock star Spiridon Kopicl (played by Srđan Šaper) obsessed with the strangler records the song "Bejbi, bejbi" ("Baby, Baby"), with his band VIS Simboli, dedicated to the strangler which immediately became nationwide hit.

Mitić, having heard the song, becomes delighted; he even strangled his own mother in order to hear it on the TV. While Mitić's number of victims becomes bigger, Kopicl is focused on Sofija (acted by Sonja Savić) who is a host of a popular musical show on the radio. While attempting to strangle Sofija, Mitić gets on his way and while attacking her gets his ear bitten by Sofija in self deffence. Kopicl gets the credit of a savior and a hero and gets married to Sofija. On their honey moon, in the climax of his obsession, Kopicl strangles Sofija while Mitić, dressed as his mother, is watching the whole thing. Mitić then enters the room and asks for his ear. Kopicl runs to an abandoned building where after a struggle hangs Mitić who bit his ear. In the end all of the crimes are credited to the late Mitić. Kopicl, while getting his ear bitten hears a melody on which he composed a symphony inspired with crime and gets married to his attractive step mother.

Cast

*Taško Načić as Pera Mitić
* Nikola Simić as Inspector Ognjen Strahinjić
* Srđan Šaper as Spiridon Kopicl
*Rahela Ferari as Pera's mother
*Sonja Savić as Sofija Mačkić
*Radmila Savićević as Mica Mojsilović, an eye witness
*María Baxa as Natalija
*Pavle Minčić as Dr. Dobrica Kopicl, Spiridon's father
*Žika Milenković as Inspector Gane
*Branislav Zeremski as Rodoljub Jovanović
*Dragana Ćirić as A girl
*Dijana Sporčić as Evgenija Poslisković
*Jelisaveta Sablić as Miss Dobrila Skara
*Đordje Nenadović as Impresio Oskar (as George Heston)
*Dobrica Jovanović as Sofija's father

External links and references

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087123/ Davitelj protiv davitelja at imdb]
* [http://www.novikadrovi.net/kritike/67-kritika.php Movie critique (Serbian source)] .
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Davitelj+protiv+davitelja&search_type=&aq=f Davitelj protiv davitelja at Youtube]