“Das ist Walter”: The Evolving Figure of the Archetypal Hero Embodied by Velimir Bata Živojinović in the Yugoslav War Film

Velimir Bata Živojinović boasts a body of work which traverses 350 motion pictures from Classical Yugoslav Cinema over The New Film to Contemporary Serbian Cinema, historical epic film noir, family comedy radical avant-garde. A legendary actor and one the most significant personalities cinema, he is best remembered as archetypal hero Partisan film. This research examines ways in Živojinović’s popular figure was constructed through genre war brand distinct Yugoslavia. By situating star image context his oeuvre, defining aesthetics closely analysing three different periods actor’s career, with respect films are central developing hero, namely Kozara (Veljko Bulajić 1962), Valter brani Sarajevo/Walter Defends Sarajevo (Hajrudin Krvavac 1972), Lepa sela lepo gore/Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (Srđan Dragojević 1996), I demonstrate how indestructible partisan embodied by established on-screen cinematic space, this continued develop, transform, evolve across films, and, finally, off-screen public space.