Overview
A family feud erupts over a century-old inheritance in the funeral business, blending humor with drama.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- irreverent
- macabre
- cult film night
- dark comedy night
What critics said
Broadly celebrated as a highly quotable, funny, and absurd Serbian comedy with memorable ensemble performances and sharp grotesque satire.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Topalovic family makes its living from funerals, graves, and burial-related schemes.
Pantelija's death immediately triggers conflict among five generations of heirs over his estate.
The film's Serbian setting, eccentric criminal family, and absurd black humor place it within a recognizable Balkan comic tradition.
Five generations of the Topalovic family participate in the inheritance struggle and burial business.
Films like The Marathon Family, and why
Who's Singin' Over There?
darkly absurd family conflict, grotesque humor, and criminal small-town milieu
The Elusive Summer of '68
biting satirical comedy rooted in eccentric provincial characters and social dysfunction
Delicatessen
macabre comedy, generational conflict, and stylized Balkan absurdism
Movie Details
- Director
- Slobodan Šijan
- Release Date
- 1982-03-04
- Runtime
- 92 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (107)
Cast
- Bogdan Diklić
- Danilo 'Bata' Stojković
- Pavle Vuisić
- Milosav 'Mija' Aleksić
- Jelisaveta 'Seka' Sablić
- Borivoje Todorović
- Zoran Radmilović
- Milivoje 'Mića' Tomić
- Radislav Lazarević
- Melita Bihali
Common questions
- What is The Marathon Family about?
- A macabre Yugoslav farce turns a five-generation funeral dynasty's inheritance dispute into an anarchic portrait of greed, criminality, and family decay.
- What is The Marathon Family like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Marathon Family as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Marathon Family violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Marathon Family as mild.
- What did critics think of The Marathon Family?
- Broadly celebrated as a highly quotable, funny, and absurd Serbian comedy with memorable ensemble performances and sharp grotesque satire.
- Which films are like The Marathon Family?
- Films with a similar feel include Who's Singin' Over There?, The Elusive Summer of '68, and Delicatessen.
- How long is The Marathon Family?
- The Marathon Family runs 92 minutes.
