Synopsis
In the late summer of 1979, while Yugoslavia was still a single state under Tito's control, a mysterious young man started stealing cars and using them for joyrides around nocturnal Belgrade. Authorities noted his predilection for white Porsches in particular. By openly defying the police and outfoxing them in wild car chases, he quickly grew into a popular hero. The Belgrade Phantom reconstructs the events using archive footage, interviews, and dramatized sequences, and only during the final credits do we hear the voice of the actual Belgrade Phantom on old cassette recordings. The new footage boasts an actor with a cool hairdo who envelops himself in dark silence. The soundtrack makes the 1970s atmosphere complete, and the mystery of the Belgrade Phantom remains intact in this film. He is described as a rebel without a cause, a Yugoslavian James Dean. In hindsight, his provocative behavior towards the authorities can be read as an omen of the crumbling dictatorial regime. Ultimately, the Phantom was apprehended in a spectacular fashion and given a relatively short prison sentence. Shortly after his release, he was killed in unexplained circumstances while driving a stolen Lada. By that point, Tito had already died.