Television Review: Padobranci (Povratak otpisanih, S1X02, 1978)

Padobranci (S01E02)

Airdate: 8 January 1978

Written by: Zoran Đorđević, Dragan Marković & Gordan Mihić
Directed by: Aleksandar Đorđević

Running Time: 57 minutes

Few European capitals have endured as concentrated and catastrophic a history of aerial bombardment in the twentieth century as Belgrade. While the scars of the 1999 NATO campaign are more recent in memory, the city’s most devastating chapters were written during the Second World War. It was first shattered by the Luftwaffe’s Strafgericht (Operation Punishment) during the Axis invasion of April 1941. Three years later, under German occupation, it found itself in the crosshairs of its would-be liberators: the Allied air forces. This grim paradox—being pummelled by those whose victory one desperately hopes for—forms the essential, suffocating backdrop for Padobranci (“The Parachutists”), the second episode of the revered Yugoslav television series Povratak otpisanih (The Return of the Written-Off). The episode masterfully uses this context not for grand spectacle, but as a pressure cooker for human drama, exploring betrayal, survival, and the brittle codes of honour that persist amidst chaos.

The plot is set in motion during one such Allied night raid, a communal leveller that drives German soldiers and Belgrade civilians alike into the same shelter. Here, Prle (D) is recognised by his pre-war mentor, petty criminal Dragi Kenta (Bora Todorović). Once a figure of rakish charm, Kenta is now a desperate man, crushed by gambling debts. This chance encounter sparks the episode’s central moral crisis. Kenta’s decision to betray Prle’s hiding place to the Serbian Special Police, led by the Krsta Mišić, for a pittance of money and food, is portrayed not as mustache-twirling villainy but as a pathetic, human failing. It is a transaction of despair, setting in motion a chain of events that exposes the complex social fabric of occupied Belgrade.

The subsequent raid on the apartment building where Prle, Tihi and Joca (Milan Puzić) hide is a masterclass in suspense built on social nuance. Their hostess, Marija, is a member of a “respectable Serbian family” with an uncle in Nedić’s collaborationist government and, crucially, a secretarial job within the Special Police itself. When Mišić arrives with Gestapo Major Krieger (Stevo Žigon) in tow, Mihić’s script brilliantly exploits the occupiers’ own hierarchies and prejudices. Marija, the epitome of cool, aristocratic poise, serves drinks and offers her apartment for search with a weary, condescending elegance that immediately disarms Krieger. His infatuation, coupled with a reluctance to upset local collaborators, leads him to call off the search. The scene’s tension derives entirely from performance and subtext—the audience’s knowledge of the men hiding in the bathroom clashing with the polite, treacherous dance in the living room. It is a triumph of writing and acting, particularly from Petković.

However, the raid yields an unexpected fruit for Mišić: Krieger’s obvious fascination with Marija becomes a potential asset. In casually revealing Kenta as the informant to Marija, Mišić unwittingly signs the man’s death warrant. Prle takes the betrayal personally. His confrontation with Kenta is the episode’s dramatic pinnacle and one of the most powerfully bleak moments in the entire series. Prle offers his former mentor a chilling courtesy—the chance to write a farewell letter—before announcing his death sentence. Todorović’s performance here is magnificent. He cycles through desperation, attempted bluff, and a final, futile grasp for his old, swindler’s dominance, trying to turn the tables with a hidden gun Prle had already disarmed. His death in the ensuing struggle is quick, unglamorous, and deeply tragic. It underscores the series’ core theme: in this world, the smallest moral compromise can have fatal, irreversible consequences.

The episode’s B-plot introduces the “parachutists” of the title: two American airmen, Jim (Petar Banićević) and Bob (Dejan Čavić), who bail out from a downed bomber. Their rescue by the villagers, aided by the ever-reliable Mrki (Milan Erak) and the scene-stealing Uncle Žika (Mija Aleksić), provides a different tonal flavour. Aleksić, a beloved comedic actor, brings a warm, pragmatic gravity to the elderly WWI veteran turned makeshift medic. The sequence where Prle and Tihi don the airmen’s jackets to divert German patrols is a clever, tense piece of subterfuge that highlights their quick-thinking bravery. The brief moment of camaraderie, sharing Chesterfield cigarettes given by the grateful Americans, offers a rare glimpse of hope amidst the gloom.

Padobranci stands out in the Povratak otpisanih canon for its restraint. As the user notes, it is an episode of considerable suspense but minimal on-screen violence, featuring only one fatality. Its tension is psychological and moral, rooted in betrayal and the constant, oppressive threat of discovery. This approach allows for richer character exploration, particularly in the doomed figure of Dragi Kenta.

Production-wise, the episode marks a transition. It is the first to feature Milivoje Marković’s updated soundtrack for the series, including a new, melancholic end-title theme. However, the increased scale of Povratak otpisanih compared to its predecessor Otpisani was not without its limits. The most notable technical shortcoming is the use of stark, black-and-white archival footage to depict the bombing raids. Uts jarring juxtaposition with the lush colour cinematography of the rest of the episode momentarily shatters the narrative illusion, a stark reminder of budgetary constraints.

The cast, as always, is superlative. Jovan Milićević makes a strong debut as the cynical city administrator Bešević and Mišić's superior. The Serbian actors Banićević and Čavić playing the American airmen are serviceable, though their English dialogue lacks authentic accent or cadence—a minor, forgivable flaw in an otherwise meticulously crafted production. The episode’s soul, however, belongs to Bora Todorović. In a single episode, he crafts a profoundly memorable tragic figure. His Dragi Kenta is not simply a traitor; he is a broken man, a symbol of how the war eroded personal loyalties and reduced life to a brutal calculus of survival. His performance elevates the episode from a simple adventure yarn to a poignant study of moral collapse.

Writer Gordan Mihić ensures the pervasive grimness is leavened with the series’ signature, bone-dry humour. The constant bickering between Prle and Joca about the irony of being bombed by their “allies” provides a necessary, humanising relief. It voices the absurd, bitter reality of life under occupation for many Belgraders: death could come from any direction, friend or foe.

Padobranci is a well-balanced episode that uses the vast historical canvas of the Belgrade bombings as an intimate theatre for human drama. It is a tale of a friendship betrayed, a life cheaply sold, and the relentless, quiet heroism required merely to persist.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

LeoDex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax
InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9