ABSTRACT: The screenplay for Srđan Dragojević's film Pretty Village, Pretty Flame was inspired by the war events that took place in September 1992, on the road between Višegrad and Rudo. Members of the Army of Republic of Srpska, who took refuge in the Brodar tunnel, were subjected to continuous attacks in the following days by the 1st Višegrad Brigade of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although inspired by this event, the plot of Dragojević's film differs in many ways, which is why there is a large gap today between the popularity of the film and the reality of what actually happened. Therefore, in this paper we will attempt to reconstruct the above-mentioned events at the Brodar tunnel, their causes and consequences. The paper will also analyze the context in which the film was made, as well as its significance. The paper is based on unpublished sources from the digital archive of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, on the testimonies of contemporaries, and relevant scholarly literature.

KEYWORDS: Pretty Village, Pretty Flame, Srđan Dragojević, Višegrad, Rudo, Brodar, Army of Republic of Srpska, Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

SUMMARY: Pretty Village, Pretty Flame is widely regarded as one of the most significant achievements in the history of Serbian cinema. Inspired by true events that took place in September 1992, the film faithfully conveys the atmosphere of the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this paper, we have demonstrated that the film is composed of a substantial number of scenes inspired by real events that occurred during the war in the Brodar tunnel, as well as in the surrounding area of Višegrad. However, although it was filmed in that area while the war was still ongoing, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame is not a reconstruction of the aforementioned events, a fact particularly evident when comparing the film’s characters with the soldiers who were actually trapped in the tunnel, as well as when examining the chronology of their presence therein. These were the reasons why there was dissatisfaction with the script during production, followed by criticism of the film after its premiere; nevertheless, this did not prevent it from attaining cult status that it retains to this day, three decades later, and for many becoming the best war film they have ever seen.