Foolish Years
The Foolish Years ({{langx|sr|Lude godine / Луде године}}) is a Yugoslav film series spawned from the 1977 movie of the same name.{{cite book |last1=Mazierska |first1=Ewa |last2=Gyori |first2=Zsolt |title=Popular Music and the Moving Image in Eastern Europe |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-50133-719-2 |page=142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnt7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142}} The original film and its nine sequels were all directed by Zoran Čalić between 1977 and 1992.{{cite web |last1=Mrenica |first1=Ines |title=Čemu smo se smijali? Prije 35 godina emitovana je "Žikina dinastija", detektor našeg mentaliteta |trans-title=What were we laughing at? "Zika's dynasty", a detector of our mentality, was broadcast 35 years ago |url=https://www.klix.ba/magazin/film-tv/cemu-smo-se-smijali-prije-35-godina-emitovana-je-zikina-dinastija-detektor-naseg-mentaliteta/201101080 |website=Klix.ba |date=1 November 2020}} In Yugoslavia, the entire series would eventually become widely known by an informal name, Žikina dinastija (Žika's Dynasty), actually the title of its 7th film (sixth sequel) released in 1985 that parodied the American TV soap opera Dynasty, which was enormously popular throughout Yugoslavia in the mid-1980s.
What would eventually turn into a film series began in 1977 with Lude godine. Centered around a teenage couple, Boba (Vladimir Petrović) and Marija (Rialda Kadrić), one of the film's goals was addressing societal issues such as unprotected sex and teen pregnancy. However, the ensemble of supporting characters—most notably the respective in-laws Živorad "Žika" Pavlović (Dragomir Bojanić Gidra) and Milan Todorović (Marko Todorović)—captured audiences' attention by displaying great comedic potential. This would later be exploited in nine subsequent sequels as each one revolved around the pair of in-laws—unrefined, working class Žika and strait-laced intellectual Milan—rather than the young couple.
Nearly every single film in the series was lambasted by film critics. Most disliked it for what they saw to be poor directorial choices and crude folksy humour loaded with rural and urban stereotypes that are displayed through the characters of Žika and Milan, respectively. Despite its low-brow reputation, the series proved to be a valuable training ground and career springboard for many acting talents and future stars of Yugoslav/Serb cinema like Sonja Savić, Zoran Cvijanović, Nikola Kojo, Gala Videnović, Branko Đurić and others.
Domestically, the films were box-office successes,{{cite book |last1=Goulding |first1=Daniel J. |title=Liberated Cinema: The Yugoslav Experience, 1945-2001 |date=2002 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-25334-210-2 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6KOL-DnxIkC&pg=PA148}} and were popular in the USSR.{{cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=Matthias |last2=Winkel |first2=Heike |title=Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context |date=2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-13738-513-0 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnwYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40}}
Films
The films in the series are:
- Lude godine (Foolish Years), (1977)
- Došlo doba da se ljubav proba (It's Time for Love) a.k.a. Lude godine II (Wacky Years II, 1980)
- Ljubi, ljubi, al' glavu ne gubi (Sure, Have Fun with Women but Don't Lose Your Head, 1981)
- Kakav deda takav unuk (Like Grandpa, Like Grandson, 1983)
- Idi mi, dođi mi (Come to me and Go from me, 1983)
- Šta se zgodi kad se ljubav rodi (What Happens When Love Comes to Town, 1984)
- Žikina dinastija (Žika's Dynasty, 1985)
- Druga Žikina dinastija (Second Žika's Dynasty, 1986)
- Treća Žikina Dinastija (, Third Zika's Dynasty 1988)
- Žikina ženidba (Žika's Wedding, 1992), also known as Ženidba Žike Pavlovića (The Wedding of Žika Pavlović) in Croatia
- Povratak Žikine dinastije (Žika's Dynasty Returns), cancelled in 2018 in production phase, due to lack of government funding.{{cite web |url=https://mondo.rs/Zabava/Film/a1123140/Filmski-centar-Srbije-nije-dao-novac-za-nastavak-filma-Zikina-dinastija.html |title=Neće biti snimanja "Povratka Žikine dinastije"? |date=4 August 2018 |access-date=20 November 2019 |language=Serbian |trans-title="Žika's Dynasty Returns" will not be filmed after all?}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Serbian comedy-drama films
Category:Serbian-language films
Category:Yugoslav comedy-drama films
Category:1977 comedy-drama films
Category:Films set in Yugoslavia
Category:1980 comedy-drama films
Category:Films set in Belgrade
Category:Films shot in Belgrade
Category:1981 comedy-drama films
Category:1983 comedy-drama films
Category:1984 comedy-drama films
Category:1985 comedy-drama films
Category:1986 comedy-drama films
Category:1988 comedy-drama films
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