Dragoslav “Šeki” Šekularac, Red Star Belgrade’s bowlegged attacking midfielder, was arguably the biggest star of 50s and 60s SFR Yugoslav football – the lone player who was a cunning genius on and a good-natured entertainer off the pitch. This, some youngsters think, means that he also must be able to direct a movie. Well, let’s put it like this: Once Šeki grabs the bullhorn, things take different turns en masse…!
In a certain way, it’s totally understandable that the nomenklatura of the time went ballistic apropos Seki’s Rolling, Watch Out!, as Vajda tailored his second full-scale fiction feature squarely upon the most commercial models of movieland: here, entertainment is as pop as it comes, frivolous and ethereal, read: disposable, for it offers little more than a chance to while away the hours with easy-going music, silly jokes and cheerful star gazing (not only at Šeki but also singer Lola Novaković, who in that very year would make the 4th place at the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson with Ne pali svetla u sumrak). Put another way: Seki’s Rolling, Watch Out! delivers what films like Ljubomir Radičević’s Ljubav i moda (1960) only promised: modern life seen as capitalist hedonism for the masses. What could be more experimental?
Olaf Möller