Elektrana (Povratak otpisanih)
Elektrana (Povratak otpisanih)
Elektrana ("The Power Plant" in English) is the eleventh episode of the drama television series Povratak otpisanih, originally aired on Yugoslav Radiotelevision network (JRT) on March 12th 1978. The plot deals with Belgrade resistance trying to prevent retreating German troops from blowing up city's main power plant.
Plot
In the cold opening Yugoslav Partisan and Red Army troops are advancing towards Belgrade, with voiceover narration of radio announcer describes that they have taken the positions on the line between Ritopek and Bele Vode after heavy fighting between October 13th and 14th 1944. In Marija's apartment Joca receives message from Partisan Headquarters about Pavle and Španac, two experienced Spanish Civil War veterans, arriving to help their resistance cell with the most difficult mission so far - preventing Germans from blowing up city's power plant before their retreat. Tihi warns his comrades that Germans, after the experiences with waterworks (shown in previous episode) will be on alert.
House of an elderly cripple is visited by Johann "the Cow", middle-aged German feldwebel who earned his nickname by his custom of providing hungry local children with milk from German military supplies.
Tihi observes the power plant with the help of Boža, one of the workers.
The plant is heavily defended and fortified, with the only approach from the river.
Tihi plans to smuggle some of the weapons in the plant itself and arm the workers who would engage German soldiers from the inside.
Marija and Prle are walking in the street and, when they listen cannonade and planes flying over them, Marija confesses that she is scared for the first time in three years, but not for herself.
She is worried for Tihi because she heard how difficult raid on power plant will be.
While that happens, Stana and Tihi discuss Marija.
Stana tells him that Marija has done enough for the cause and she should think of her safety and go underground before the battle is over.
Tihi tells she will remain, but that they both will survive.
Stana tells that she hopes that she will attend wedding between the two.
In the power plant, Janko, one of the workers, is approached by Johann.
He tells him in broken Serbian that he knows that his side will lose the battle and that he wants to survive by taking civillian clothes and shelter. Janko offers him that in exchange for his help with the raid. Germans briefly take all workers out of power plant in order to put explosives. The workers, however, later can't find them nor difuse them and they require expert. Mrki than recruits engineer Damjanović who would enter the power plant with Johann's help. Boža later bring Johann to his house where he would have to wait for the fitting civilian clothes to arrive. Boža's little daughter later convinces him to help her find material for a cake, so he goes out in the night, back in German uniform, in order to provide it.
Engineer Damjanović finds and defuses explosive and later makes improvised grenades workers will use during the fight.
Mrki, Prle, Tihi and his group, strenghtened by Pavle and Španac, quietly approach the plant from the river and begin to quietly take out guards with knives, while weapons are brought to workers.
When Tihi takes out bunker with hand grenades, an alarm is sounded and the fight begins.
One German machinegun nest proves to be almost unusurmountable obstacles until Španac decides to start locomotive and use it to approach it.
As it happens, Johann returns to Boža's family with enough material for making three cakes.
In the meantime, the fight for power plant is over and workers celebrate by raising red flag over it.
Cast
Pavle Vuisić as Joca
Dragan Nikolić as Prle
Voja Brajović as Tihi
Zlata Petković as Marija
Aleksandar Berček as Mrki
Slobodan Perović as Johann "the Cow"
Rade Marković as Milan
Jovan Janićijević as Boža
Ljubiša Samardžić as Španac
Mihajlo Kostić as Pavle
Peter Carsten as General von Friedrichs
Eugen Verber as Schroeder
Cane Firaunović as König
Mirko Bulović as Pera
Nikola Jovanović as Janko
Žarko Radić as Paja
Toma Jovanović as Engineer Damjanović
Svetlana Bojković as Stana
Ljubica Golubović as Jelena, wife of engineer Damjanović
Živka Matić as Pera's mother-in-law
Milo Miranović as Fisherman
Predrag Todorović as Mita "Plajvaz"
Mira Dinulović as Mica
Ljiljana Kontić as Janko's wife
Danilo Srećković as Commander of power plant
Ivana Šekularac as Boža's granddaughter
Gradimir Tripković as Janko's son
Trivia
Žarko Radić, who appears in the episode as Paja, one of the power plant workers, appeared in feature film Otpisani (and two first episodes of eponymous series - Bolnica and Garaža - as Boban, one of the young resistance activists who ultimately gets captured and shot.