An apple orchard near Veliko Tarnovo, a quiet autumn and two actors who must convey a love doomed before it even began. This is how Bulgarian cinema remembered Rade Marković – the Serbian actor, who was born in Belgrade on October 14, 1921, and decades later entered the memory of the Bulgarian audience forever as Ivo Obrenović.
„The Peach Thief“ by Valo Radev was released in 1964, based on the story of the same name by Emilian Stanev. Marković plays a Serbian prisoner of war who falls in love with Liza – the wife of a Bulgarian officer, played by Nevena Kokanova. The story is set at the end of World War I, but the film also speaks of something bigger than the specific historical moment - about love as a brief refuge from war, fear and imposed borders.
The filming in Veliko Tarnovo was not an ordinary foreign assignment for Marković. He began learning Bulgarian to be convincing as the Serbian hero, and later said that he even deliberately made mistakes in the voice acting to sound like a prisoner of war. “The invitation to film in Bulgaria seemed like a lifeboat“, the actor wrote in a letter published by “168 hours“.
The role that remains off-screen
Markovic and Kokanova received awards for their leading roles at the Bulgarian Film Festival in Varna in 1964. “The Peach Thief“ was also awarded the special jury prize, and was later shown in the competition program of the Venice Film Festival. The Bulgarian National Television defines the film as one of the significant works of Bulgarian cinema, and Markovic's role is among the reasons why Ivo's image remains so enduring.
Over the years, stories about the closeness between the two actors have also accumulated around the film. In his 2004 letter, Marković describes their relationship as a friendship that gradually turned into love. These personal confessions are part of the film's story, but they do not change the most important thing: on screen, Kokanova and Marković create a couple whose restraint makes the feeling even stronger.
A career that began on an amateur stage
Before cinema, Marković went through amateur theater and student stage. He studied first at the Faculty of Technology, then at the Faculty of Philosophy, but chose acting. In 1948, he made his debut in the film “Immortal Youth“, and in 1959 he became a professional actor at the Belgrade Drama Theater. He also worked with the Theater “Atelier 212“ and the National Theatre in Belgrade.
For nearly six decades, he has played in more than 100 plays, over 70 films and dozens of television productions. Among the memorable titles are “Šolaja“, “Radopolije“, “Walter defends Sarajevo“, “Variola vera“ and “We are not angels 2“. Most of his career is connected with Yugoslav and Serbian cinema, but it was the Bulgarian film that gave him a role with which he remained recognizable even outside his homeland.
Marković also worked with his son Goran Marković, a famous director, in several films, including “National class up to 785 cubic meters“, “Masters, masters“, “Variola vera“ and “Tito and I“. He teaches acting in Novi Sad and Belgrade, and among his honors are the “Slavica“ award for lifetime contribution to cinema and the “Dobritsa Prsten“ theater award.
Rade Marković died in 2010, but in Bulgaria he continues to live in a black and white frame - among peach trees, silence and Ivo's gaze towards Lisa. Sometimes one role is enough to turn a foreign actor into a part of the national cultural memory.
Sources: bnt.bg, rts.rs, 168chasa.bg