Television Review: Most (Povratak otpisanih, S1X12, 1978)

Most (S01E12)

Airdate: 19 March 1978

Written by: Dragan Marković Directed by: Aleksandar Đorđević

Running Time: 55 minutes

One of the most persistent and damning critiques levelled against the popular Yugoslav television sequel Povratak otpisanih (The Written-Off Return) is its profound disconnect from the gritty, documented reality of the Second World War in Belgrade. This stands in stark contrast to its predecessor, Otpisani (The Written-Off), which, particularly in its inaugural episodes, grounded its narratives in authentic historical events and resistance cell activities, lending it a palpable sense of verisimilitude. Povratak otpisanih, by contrast, largely sacrificed this historical fidelity on the altar of escapist, crowd-pleasing entertainment, transforming its charismatic protagonists into near-invincible action heroes in a series of increasingly improbable adventures. It is against this backdrop that the penultimate episode, Most (The Bridge), arrives as a fascinating anomaly. Here, the script momentarily re-engages with tangible history, reconstructing an extraordinary but documented event from October 1944. Yet, the episode ultimately fails to fully commit to this historical core, diluting its powerful true story within the series’ established formula of relentless action, gratuitous fan service, and baffling production compromises.

The plot of Most is set on the eve of Belgrade’s liberation, 19 October 1944. The combined forces of the Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army have shattered the last German defensive lines, and the city’s freedom is anticipated within hours. In a succinct scene establishing the German collapse, General von Friedrichs accepts defeat and orders a general retreat westward. His conversation with Gestapo Major Krieger underscores a classic ideological divide: the professional soldier yielding to military reality versus the fanatical National Socialist vowing to fight on, a motif that justifies the continued resistance faced by our heroes even in the war’s final moments.

Meanwhile, amongst the resistance, news of the imminent liberation sparks elation. Prle, Tihi, Marija, and Mrki allow themselves a moment of hope, only to be summoned by their commander, Stana. True to the series’ ethos, their war is not over until the last possible second. They are assigned one final, near-suicidal mission: to prevent the Germans from destroying the strategically vital ‘Prince Eugene Bridge’, the last connection between Belgrade and Syrmia. The Germans, in a scorched-earth tactic, plan to detonate it despite potentially trapping their own stragglers. Tihi, ever the pragmatic leader, recruits Engineer Damjanović for his technical expertise and devises a perilous plan. Prle and his group, including his perpetually cowardly friend Cane Kurbla—who has, in a moment of character evolution, finally shed his fear—will launch a direct assault on the German checkpoints as a diversion. Under this cover of noise and chaos, Tihi and Damjanović will infiltrate the bridge itself to disarm the charges.

Unbeknownst to the seasoned resistance fighters, a parallel narrative unfolds. Zaharije S. Jovanović (Nikola Milić), a middle-aged, unassuming Belgrade resident, watches the German retreat with mixed feelings. A veteran sapper of the Serbian Army in the Balkan and Great Wars, he is elated by the enemy’s departure but frustrated by his own inability to contribute meaningfully to the liberation. Chance, however, provides an opportunity. Living in proximity to the bridge, he has meticulously observed German engineering activities and discovers the demolition fuses running through his neighbourhood. Applying his antiquated but still-serviceable military knowledge, he single-handedly disconnects them. Deducing the location of the main charges, he borrows a friend’s boat and, against the fervent protests of his wife Milka (Ljubica Ković), sets out into the night. His mission is one of quiet, determined patriotism, devoid of gunfire or grandstanding. This narrative strand converges with that of the protagonists on the bridge. Prle’s diversionary attack proceeds with the expected high cost in partisan lives. When Tihi and Damjanović finally reach their objective, they find the wires already cut. The bridge is saved, not by the series’ iconic action heroes, but by an anonymous civilian. The Red Army subsequently secures the intact structure. Zaharije returns home to his wife, a humble, unsung victor. The episode, however, refuses a purely triumphant ending. In a moment of characteristic bleakness, Prle discovers that Cane Kurbla, having finally found his courage, has been mortally wounded in the firefight—a tragically high price for his personal redemption.

What elevates Most from mere formulaic adventure is the astonishing historical truth at its heart. The central storyline—a solitary civilian saving a critical bridge from destruction—is not wild fiction but documented fact. The character of Zaharije S. Jovanović is a direct fictionalisation of Miladin Zarić (1889–1976), a schoolteacher and former Serbian Army sapper. On that fateful October night, Zarić, acting entirely on his own initiative and using his First World War expertise, located and defused the German explosives on the ‘Prince Eugene’ (later known as Old Sava) Bridge. He was later decorated for this act, though historical accounts suggest he faced subsequent difficulties with the post-war Communist authorities, a nuanced fate the episode wisely avoids. This is a compelling, cinematic story in its own right, ripe for dramatisation. Herein lies the episode’s central creative tension and its fundamental flaw. Instead of allowing Zarić’s remarkable feat to stand alone as the episode’s focus, the script awkwardly grafts it onto the rigid narrative chassis of Povratak otpisanih. The real-life hero’s actions are reduced to a parallel plotline, competing for screen time with the series’ mandatory ingredients: Tihi’s elaborate military planning, Prle’s large-scale firefight, a high body count among supporting characters, and the ritualistic tragic death of a beloved sidekick like Cane Kurbla. The authentic, quietly powerful tale of individual initiative is thus subsumed by the louder, more conventional mechanics of partisan action drama.

This narrative crowding is exacerbated by the inclusion of a largely superfluous subplot. While Tihi’s group tackles the bridge, Španac and Pavle are separately tasked with preventing the destruction of the city’s main post office. This strand feels like filler, offering little dramatic tension as the duo simply exploits the German retreat to inspect and disarm a found device. Its primary function appears to be maintaining the episode’s sprawling scope and ensuring all major protagonists have something to do, further diluting the narrative focus.

Alongside this, Most is replete with moments of transparent fan service. A poignant but overly symbolic scene sees Joca, the postman-turned-partisan, finally reunited with his wife Lenče (first introduced in the Otpisani episode @drax/television-review-potar-otpisani-s1x08-1975-bpj" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Poštar). He arrives at their old home still wearing the postman’s uniform from his departure three years prior, a heavy-handed visual metaphor for a return to normality that the series’ own logic suggests is impossible.

More notoriously, the episode continues the series’ sporadic use of nudity with a scene featuring Anđela, General von Friedrichs’ mistress. Even on the eve of frantic evacuation, she is again depicted taking a bath, in a sequence more explicitly revealing than previous instances in episodes like @drax/television-review-vodovod-povratak-otpisanih-s1x10-1978" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vodovod. While indicative of the relative permissiveness of 1970s Yugoslav television, it serves no narrative purpose beyond gratuitous titillation, a blatant concession to audience expectation.

Perhaps the most jarring flaw, however, is a staggering historical inaccuracy that undermines the episode’s pretence to historical engagement. In depicting the Red Army’s final advance, the production used American-made M47 Patton tanks, a post-war design, to stand in for the Soviet T-34s that actually liberated Belgrade. This was not due to a lack of available period vehicles; T-34s remained in the inventory of the Yugoslav People’s Army and were even contemporaneously loaned to the production of Sam Peckinpah’s @drax/film-review-cross-of-iron" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cross of Iron. The decision to use anachronistic Pattons—visually unmistakable to any militarily aware viewer—shatters the visual authenticity of the liberation scenes. It is a baffling production failure that speaks to either carelessness, budgetary constraint, or a fundamental disregard for the very historical texture the episode’s core story tries to evoke.

In conclusion, Most is a solid yet frustratingly incoherent piece of television. It possesses the raw material for a standout episode: a genuinely inspiring, historically verified story of civilian courage at the pivotal moment of liberation. Nikola Milić’s understated performance as Zaharije provides a welcome dose of human-scale dignity. Yet, the episode seems unwilling or unable to break free from the successful but restrictive formula of its parent series. It insists on coating this fascinating real-life nucleus with excessive layers of conventional partisan action, formulaic tragic sacrifice, irrelevant subplots, and crowd-pleasing fan service. The result is a narrative at war with itself—one strand reaching for historical resonance, the others clinging to escapist entertainment. Coupled with the immersion-breaking blunder of the Patton tanks, ‘Most’ ultimately exemplifies the very critique it momentarily seeks to defy: Povratak otpisanih’s enduring preference for thrilling fiction over complicated fact, even when the truth is, as here, demonstrably more compelling.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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