MovieChat Forums > The Beach (2000) Discussion > serbian/bosnian question regarding the '...

serbian/bosnian question regarding the 'bicycle' line

posted 13 years ago by drazen-n
19 replies | jump to latest

I would just like to clarify the following trivia:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163978/trivia?tr0763283

I heard that in the book, the characters (two girls) who taught the others that line come from Bosnia. So, could someone who has read the book clarify which language it's about - if they come from Bosnia, then it should be stated that it's Bosnian.
Since I can speak both, I'm pretty sure that the line if it was in Serbian would go "Sutra cu da putujem mnogo milja biciklom".

It's a small difference, but I would like to set the facts straight if possible.
Thanks.

Despair is not a guest - you don't play its favorite music or find it a comfortable chair.

[–] azrabiho 13 years ago

I am Bosnian and the line in the movie can actually be both serbian and bosnian.. The two languages are 95% similar and there is rarely a difference in the way things are said it is more the accent. But in my opinion and knowledge of both languges the line can be both :-)

[–] drazen-n 13 years ago

I'm also a Bosnian, but there are strict linguistic differences between two languages of Serbian and Bosnian, even though they practically are really similar to each other (hence the same Slavic language group).

Therefore I just wanted a clarification from someone who read the book to say if it was either Serbian or Bosnian intended by the author, to correct the trivia on the main page.

Thanks for your reply, though!
Hvala

Despair is not a guest - you don't play its favorite music or find it a comfortable chair.

[–] Mojo_Jojo 13 years ago

Well, as the trivia correctly states, it's Croatian language. So, it's neither Serbian nor Bosnian. There are differences between the three languages not only in accents but in vocabulary and grammar as well.

Accents in the movie for that line are not correct for any of the languages anyway as they haven't been spoken by native speakers.

Later on in the movie you will hear someone say "vrlo interesantno" which is unmistakeably Croatian. Serbian would be "veoma interesantno" and Bosnian language tends to borrow largely from Serbian in the recent years, I doubt they would use "vrlo" in Bosnian.

[–] drazen-n 13 years ago

Yes, corrected into Croatian now it makes sense (before it was stated Serbian)

Despair is not a guest - you don't play its favorite music or find it a comfortable chair.

[–] m0uth 12 years ago

There is no such language as bosnian. They speak serbian and croatian in Bosnia.

[–] djryback 12 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_language

[–] m0uth 12 years ago

No, trust me, it does not exist. It's not a language, and everyone living in the ex Yu knows that.

[–] andyp1 12 years ago

Oh come on...I know you guys want your own language but getting your own country doesn't change your language. The language is crowned Serbo-Croatian and there is nothing more.

Otherwise every state in the US and South America should have their own language, but no it's english, spanish and portuguese. So please, quit the nationalistic crap!

[–] tonydark6 12 years ago

Its not nationalistic crap. The grammatic structure, the neologisms and spelling norms are all different. Croatia and Serbia are 2 different countries with their own independent languages, whats so hard to grasp?

Not to mention that even calling it Serbo-Croatian is a giant slap in the face to every Croatian that has ever struggled to get out of the $hithole that was Yugoslavia.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] djryback 9 years ago

https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosanski_jezik#/media/File:Bosansko-turski_rije%C4%8Dnik_1631.jpg

[–] Milanvps 12 years ago

Serbian actress speaks Croatian ? How pathetic some people are.

[–] maksimus7 10 years ago

A term ACTOR means that they ACT. They don't play themselves. They play OTHER people.
Get a life

[–] matija-lhs 12 years ago

Why are you feeling the need to lie? vrlo and veoma are synonyms and are equally used in serbian language...The actress is serbian, thus she spoke serbian, logically. Поздрав из Србије !

[–] drgonzo-13 11 years ago

Serbs say "vrlo" and "veoma", but they almost never say "sutra cu putovati" instead of "sutra cu da putujem". The actress in question may be serbian, but the language was most definitely croatian.

[–] maksimus7 10 years ago

You should all get a life - who cares if she speaks Serbian or Croatian??? Honestly do get a life haha

[–] tamarafcb 10 years ago

Agreed. Who caaaaaaaaaares? I'm Serbian but I don't think there is such a thing as Serbian or Croatian language, I only ''believe'' in Serbo-Croatian and Serbian and Croatian as its dialects. And when it comes to those stupid nationalist comments, I honestly do not get them. The war is over and even if there still was a war, people with common sense would know that not every Serb or Croat is a bad person. So, what the hell? People need to stop thinking in black and white.

Sju bøtter tårer er nok.

[–] adam-babok 10 years ago

Exactly. I'm Croatian and I can confirm that this discussion is totally worthless. It doesn't even matter is it Bosnian, Serbian or Croatian when all people from that countries can understand each other, there is only a difference in their accent and that's all. :)

[–] n-zunic 7 years ago

yea we do say it 'sutra cu da putujem', 'sutra cu putovati' and all in the between