A story of how a war affected a country, more than a movie about a king. This movie tells the dark history of how the Serbs heroically beat back the Austrians in WWI, only to have them return with help of the Germans and the Bulgarians to occupy the country. King Petar, knowing his troops would be annihilated in battle, makes the fateful decision to retreat over the alps to allied aid in Corfu.

The tale is told from the point of view of two young soldiers and a boy on the one hand, and the ailing King Petar's point of view on the other. War is never glorified or shown as something wonderful, the King himself speaks about that in an early scene. What we find are tough decisions, a desperate defense of a homeland, and a great deal of tragedy along the way. All the actors were very affective and a great deal of credit should also be given to the excellent camera work and cinematography. It's a very dark film that shows overlooked perspectives of a country that greatly bore the brunt of WWI.

All of that said, this isn't a film I would rush to view again, but I would recommend it for its performances, history, and excellent shots. I give it a seven because I felt overwhelmed by it. Maybe that was the point. Definitely worth your time.

Sometimes when films are made, one deliberately films some extra footage so that there is enough material for a TV series as well. Unfortunately, in this case they had a script for a 12 episode long TV series, which they proceeded to butcher in order to make a film out of it. That did not work out. From beginning to end, one feels that scenes don't fit well together, because numerous scenes have been cut out of the original script. The film comes across as an afterthought, an exercise in reducing ten hours of material to one fifth of that length.

The TV series is much better, and I would advise everyone to skip the film and watch the series.

My great grandfather has actually been through this (he did not make it), so I had a very emotional and personal attachment to this movie, as did so many Serbs, I am sure. It's based on a true event. I am not going to mark this as containing spoilers because it is based on what actually happened in history. So, these events are known, but I did not disclose the details of the movie itself.

In 1914, Serbia had expelled Austria-Hungary 3 times.

When Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria did a combined attack against Serbia, the option to surrender was out of the question. The only way to temporarily retreat was south, over the rough, bitter cold Albanian mountains, where Serbia would connect to the Allies.

Eventually, the Serbian Army - what was left of it - made it to the Greek island of Corfu, where it recovered in a matter of months, then making the swift return home to liberate Serbia.

This episode in Serbian history is known as the Albanian Golgotha, and is the main focus of the movie. I loved the coronation scene in the beginning. King Peter I of Serbia was a truly democratic ruler. He also translated John Stuart Mill's work "On Freedom" and is in Serbia known as King the Liberator. He is Serbia's most respected King and the only one in modern Serbian history to have been crowned.

This movie was the Serbian candidate for the Oscars, did not make it. If this were an episode in American history, and if it were an American movie, it would have won an Oscar.

The movie will be subtitled in several languages, so please see it if you can.