Ko to tamo peva? holds a place among Yugoslavia’s film classics. The movie was filmed and released in 1980, but it looks back at a difficult period in the nation’s past: the opening titles state that the events unfold on April 5, 1941, a date that any Yugoslav would have recognized as the day before the German invasion. In an unremarkable rural setting, a bus picks up a varied group of passengers all traveling to Belgrade. Among them are a weathered WWI veteran (Milivoje "Mića" Tomic), a man hoping to audition for a cabaret act (Dragan Nikolic), someone who seems to favor Germany and might be a spy (Bata Stojković), and a newly married couple (Slavko Stimac, Neda Arneric). Also on board are two gypsies (Miodrag and Nenad Kostić) who occasionally offer commentary through humorous musical breaks. The bus is driven by an irritable and clever old man Kstic (Pavle Vuisic), accompanied by his adult son Misko (Aleksandar Bercek). Much of Yugoslav cinema leading up to this point had consisted of state-approved World War II movies repeatedly emphasizing how the courageous Yugoslav Partisans overcame the Germans through every patriotic Yugoslav uniting regardless of their backgrounds and differences. *Ko to tamo peva?* challenges that tradition, portraying its characters as a contentious group of grumpy, selfish, and flawed individuals, each looking out for themselves. Despite their dislike for one another, these Serb passengers do manage to come together to attack the gypsies. (This is a dark twist on a familiar joke from the USSR about "friendship of peoples"—a value promoted by the Communist Party—which supposedly meant when groups like Russians and Georgians would join forces to confront a third ethnicity.) As the bus makes its way toward the city, the passengers face a series of bizarre challenges reminiscent of William Faulkner’s novel *As I Lay Dying*: a funeral procession, the bus driver's spontaneous barbecue, and an encounter with the Yugoslav army who suspect them of being spies. It appears they won’t reach Belgrade anytime soon. But when they finally arrive in the capital, viewers are in for a surprise. The exceptionally high ratings this film receives are largely due to Serbs and other former Yugoslavs celebrating it as a beloved classic, possibly more than its merits warrant. For audiences outside of Yugoslavia, many may miss some of the references and humor, so one might not be as impressed as those giving it a perfect 10. Still, *Ko to tamo peva?* could be worth seeing for film enthusiasts elsewhere. A good deal of the comedy still comes across. Moreover, the work of Yugoslavia’s most internationally recognized filmmaker, Emir Kusturica, builds on some of these jokes; indeed, the screenplay was written by Dusan Kovacevic, who later worked with Kusturica on *Underground*, and *Ko to tamo peva?* shares a similar perspective on Balkan culture—lots of boisterous eating, drinking, and dancing—as is found in Kusturica’s films.

Source on TMDB