The Fall of Rock & Roll (1989) User Reviews

Great fun...

[Decko_koji_obecava · 9/10 · 12 June 2002]

Back in the 1980s rock'n'roll and movies frequently overlapped in Serbia, and it's a joint effort of this kind that gave birth to "Kako je propao rokenrol". Other similar colaborations gave us 1981's "Decko koji obecava" and to a lesser extent "Davitelj protiv davitelja", both also quality movies.

This film consists of 3 independent stories tied together by a Master of Ceremonies of sorts named Green Tooth (famous Belgrade musician and personality Dusan 'Koja' Kojic's alter ego) who appears at the beginning of each one. They all tell tales of Belgrade's cynical teenagers and young adults living their mostly urbane and hip existences, centered around making music or in certain cases merely looking different and acting against the norm. However, the problems they're forced to deal with are more earthly in nature and they include:

• finding a catchy hook to sell avantgarde underground music to a populous that prefers folk,

• paying the rent and getting your life together before your wife gives birth

or in case of the guy from 2nd story

• simply getting a girl to put out without any commitment expectations, etc...

Movie was made as kind of a showcase for young Serbian and Yugoslav writers and directors coming up in the late 1980s, who contributed these stories in hopes of getting their names and work more exposure. And while their talents were certainly shown in good light here, none of them, unfortunately, went on to notable careers in film making.

All 3 stories have plenty of charm, wit and good dialogue to merit a strong recommendation. Combining two generations of Serbian actors as kind of on-screen adversaries competing for bragging rights also works very well and it's fabulous to watch as an underlying dynamic.

Great music too, courtesy of a Belgrade band 'Elektricni orgazam'.

Hit and miss

[richkiel · 7/10 · 30 October 2021]

A film consisting of three short films. The first one is by far the best, the second is the worst, and the third falls somewhere in the middle. The first film is probably the only part that makes this trilogy memorable. It is a fun little film about the rise of fake 'folk' music in the 1980s in Yugoslavia, that mocks the utter emptiness and primitivism of this music and the people behind it.

On the whole, all three parts are entertaining enough to watch, but I can't give this an overall mark higher than 7/10.

Mixed bag

[harryplinkett14 · 8/10 · 3 September 2019]

The film consists of three stories, which vary in quality. The first one is by far the best, and the other two are entertaining, though not very impressive. The film is also not family friendly, despite ostensibly lighthearted tone. I prefer to remember the good bits, and ignore the rest, but for the sake of objectivity, I think this film deserves eight stars.

Very good film

[stefaan34 · 9/10 · 17 December 2022]

The film consists of three short films. The first film is best by far and it makes this film memorable the most. The other two films are a bit worse than the first one, but still fantastic and fun. It is interesting that, in the film everything is based on the music of that time, the battle between folk music and rock and roll. The film, as you can see from the title, is based on the rock and roll music of Yugoslavia, the people and trends of that time. It's not the best comedy from Yugoslavia, but it's definitely one of the better ones and it's worth watching. Overall, all three movies are entertaining and interesting. I highly recommend watching.