The Cat's Meow: The Last Yugoslavian Team (Janic, 2000)

In The Cat’s Meow, I hope to discuss whatever football related films I have seen or books I have read, with you, my readers. These particular books or films do not have to be very recent. If you have seen or read the film or book on hand, please tell me what you thought of it in the comments. Tips are also very welcome.

Today’s Cat’s Meow just proves show sharp and on top of things I really am. Nothing gets by me unnoticed. I’m like a cat.

A very lethargic, sloppy cat.

Today’s subject of the Cat’s Meow is a documentary that was released in 2000, and it’s called ‘The Last Yugoslavian Team’. It’s a Dutch production, made by Vuk Janic, who himself hails from Sarajevo. It details, as one might expect, the last generation of players from Yugoslavia, the so called ‘Chileans’, after their victory in the youth world cup in 1987 in Chile. And it manages to do so in a very beautifully paced, objective manner.

That last part is especially striking. Janic hails from Sarajevo, but does never judge or somehow favourably portray the players who are as well. Equal, if not more, screen time is given to players from other regions, and Janic solemnly collects their statements and presents the viewer with the possibility to construct their own viewpoint out of all these different stories about the same subject. The story shifts from the first matches between Croatia and Serbia, or Former Yugoslavia, footage material and interviews, and as such it has a very clear structure that fills you in on almost everything you need to know.

Janic incorporates all the known landmarks of the story. The Youth World Cup of 1987, the legendary footage of Boban attacking a policeman and the exclusion from the 1992 European Cup all feature, as they should. But he also provides you with a perspective of the inner workings of a team in this rare situation and the effect it has on both the players and their immediate surroundings. Boban, for one, became a staunch nationalist for the Croatian cause. Others, like Mijatovic, try to avoid the topic whenever possible.

Football is often given as an example of how a country can unite behind a single cause, like in Cote d’Ivoire during the last World Cup. It is seldom mentioned how it can also have the exact opposite effect, as becomes evident by the footage of an entire stadium of people booing their own national anthem.

Another very powerfull moment in the documentary which I think deserves special mention shows the Bosnian people, considered the last people who had faith in the union of the republics, after 'their' team advanced in the 1990 World Cup. Their cries of 'Yugoslavia! Yugoslavia!' resemble similar outburts of joy in other countries, but there is an almost desperate tone in their voice.

I would recommend this documentary to any and everyone with even the slightest interest in one of the most striking collisions between sports and politics. I have heard from some people it is rather hard to come by, so I do not have any problems providing you with a link where you can see it for free. Having said that, it really deserves better than being watched on Google Video.

The Last Yugoslavian Team - Janic, 2000.