The Way Steel Was Tempered

The smelter Leo dreams of a trouble-free life, but the social conditions are far from stable: his job is hard and dangerous, the factory is bankrupt, and the bosses are trying to steal as much as they can before the ship goes down. But Leo’s personal life is just as chaotic. A teenage girl is infatuated with him because she loves his rugged old rock ’n’ roll look. Leo's wife, fed up by all of this, leaves him and goes back to her parents. But then she meets Michel, the head of security at Leo's factory. A jealous outburst leads to Leo losing his job. Filled with anger, he tries to overturn a monument in the town square and winds up in prison. However, the factory management takes on general hands from prison every day, and so Leo is reunited with his pals. When foreign business partners visit the foundry, they are so impressed by the archaic appearance of the workers and the place's incredible atmosphere, they suggest that everything be put under a preservation order. They are particularly enchanted by Leo and take him with them as a perfect specimen. Two years later, he triumphantly returns to his native country, clean-shaven and driving a Cadillac. Α satirical comedy, set in proletarian surroundings, on the end of socialism in Yugoslavia.

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Script: Zelimir Zilnik, Branko Andric

Cinematography: Miodrag Milosevic

Editing: Slobodan Jandric

Sound: Vladimir Stanojevic, Karoly Morvai

Actors: Lazar Ristovski, Tatjana Pujin,Ljiljana Blagojevic, Relja Basic, Lidija Stevanovic,Milenko Pavic, Dragan Dimitrov, DobrilaSokica, Jovica Milosevic, Gyorgy Feyes,Nedeljko Vopevka, Snezana Visnjic

Production: Terra film, Yugoslavia

Format: 35mm Color

Production Country: Yugoslavia

Production Year: 1988

Duration: 101

Želimir Žilnik

Filmography

1967 A Newsreel on Village Youth, in Winter (short)
1971 Black Film (short)
1975 Inventory (short)
1994 Tito among the Serbs for the Second Time
2000 Fortress Europe
2007 Kenedi Is Getting Married
2013 Pirika on Film
2015 Logbook Serbistan