THE MOVING PICTURE BOY ARCHIVE

NJERIU ME TOP

Title: Njeriu me top
English translation of title: The Man with the Cannon
Year of release: 1977
Director: Viktor Gjika
Principal boy actor: Enea Zhegu plays Mato Gruda's son Ziguri.
Country of Production: Albania 
Genre: War drama
Length: 1 hr 29 min
Language: Albanian
Availability: A 4K scan of the film has been made and was screened in 2024. At time of writing, this has not become more generally available. The film is available to watch on Youtube, in poorer quality and without English subtitles.

Synopsis
When Mato Gruda comes across a cannon left by the departing Italian army, he hides it in his barn, hoping to use it against the family of old man Mere Fizi with whom his family has been feuding in a conflict that has wiped out nearly all of Mato's extended family. Mato learns from an Italian prisoner who he takes into his home how to use the cannon. One evening, after Mato's aunt taunts him for not striking back, he finally fires the cannon at the Fizi home. In the morning, however, he realises that he has missed the house. A village inquiry into the source of the attack leads to accusations against Mato's partisan friends. Ashamed of his cowardice for allowing the partisans to be accused of shelling civilian homes rather than publicly confessing his deed, Mato realises that the issue of helping the partisans defend Albania against the Germans is more important than his feud. When the partisans fight back against the invading German army, Mato takes his cannon to a strategic point and helps the partisans by firing on the invader. Dying heroically from a shell that lands too close to him, his son continues loading and firing the cannon at the Germans.

Source material
The film was based on the 1975 novel of the same title by the Albanian writer and leading member of the nomenklatura Dritëro Agolli.
Below: front cover of 2000 reprint of Albanian novel

Screenshots