Belgrade, Serbia

Tihana from Ergo and other sci-fi

Published: January 31, 2010

Just when James Cameron thought he will get away with plagiarism, he’s caught! Yugoslavian author Predrag Urosevic claims that his novel from 1984, Tihana iz Erga (Eng: Tihana from Ergo) served as a plot for Cameron’s Avatar. There are at least three similarities with Avatar’s plot, says Urosevic. The man comes to another forest-like planet where he is guided through the alien world by an alien girl, and they fall in love and defend the planet from humans who try to take the precious energy juice found only on that planet. I’d have to read the book to tell you if it’s all completely the same, but from what I’ve found on the net so far about the book is that the aliens are actually some kind of evolved bees and the energy juice is sort of honey. The man is not a soldier but an outcast of some sorts.

Of course, it is highly unlikely that Cameron actually read and stole some details from the story, and of course the story itself is pretty universal (you can find many different old tales and novels with similar details) but it serves as an interesting reminder of the past Yugo-made science fiction flicks and novels, which were much more appreciated than today. See for example this part of the movie Gosti iz galaksije Arkana (Eng: Visitors from the Arkana galaxy):

Also, take a look at this trailer from the movie Atomic war bride where a nuclear bomb is shown hitting Dom Sindikata in Belgrade:

Today, science-fiction in Serbia is still alive and kicking, but only when it comes to novels, think Zoran Zivkovic as a prime example. I can’t think of any Serbian sci-fi flick made in the last 15 years, but that’s why we have a whole bunch of social dramas and war trauma movies.

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