Rade Šerbedžija gives small parts weight through his distinctive voice and imposing presence. We value his terse supporting performances, but the repeated casting as an Eastern European threat makes his Western film work a narrow introduction.
Fi1m perspective
Rade Šerbedžija brings an imposing voice and physical presence to a small part, often giving us the authority before we know much about the man. His Boris the Blade fits the brisk ensemble playing of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch (2000). We like the terseness of that contribution in a crime comedy already busy keeping its plot moving. The cast carries the film, though its ethnic caricatures and recycled gangland swagger put a limit on our pleasure.
The earlier work gives us a fuller picture. He was a leading stage and screen actor in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s, with a lead in Banović Strahinja (1981). His Aleksandar in Before the Rain (1994) brought international attention, after which he worked primarily in supporting parts in British and Hollywood productions. That history makes the familiar Western casting look unnecessarily restrictive. It also gives us a reason to look beyond the recognisable supporting figures when deciding what sort of actor he is.
In Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), he plays Milich. He recalled Kubrick giving him only a name and no explanation of the character’s background, an approach that seems well suited to an actor who can establish a presence without much preliminary explanation. We were unsettled by the film because Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman keep its marital discomfort so painfully intimate. That central intimacy is the chief reason to recommend it, rather than any single supporting turn. Its drawn-out exchanges sometimes test our goodwill, but the patience it asks for is worth finding.
Šerbedžija’s economical supporting work deserves appreciation, even when the available parts leave us dissatisfied. The recurring Russian and Eastern European assignments, frequently small or antagonistic, make the casting feel predictable before he has done anything. In Snatch, the pleasure of a well-chosen ensemble survives our reservations about the caricatures, and his contribution belongs to that pleasure. We would still welcome more opportunities to watch him carry a film. After Boris and Milich, seek out his lead in Before the Rain.
Biography
Rade Šerbedžija is a Croatian actor, director and musician. Born on 27 July 1946 in Bunić, Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia), he graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts at the University of Zagreb in 1969. He began his career in theatre, performing leading roles at the City Drama Theatre Gavella and the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, and became one of the most prominent Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s.
Šerbedžija gained international recognition for supporting roles in Hollywood films, including Ivan Tretiak in The Saint (1997), Milich in Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Boris the Blade in Snatch (2000), Dr. Nekhorvich in Mission: Impossible II (2000), a role in Batman Begins (2005), Mykew Gregorovitch in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), a Russian General in X-Men: First Class (2011), and Murad Krasniqi in Taken 2 (2012). He also appeared in a recurring role as Dmitri Gredenko in the television series 24.
