How Ryan Gosling and his new movie reminded us of our man who was killed over 100 times by Prle and Tihi

Ryan Gosling pays homage to stuntmen in his new film Fall Guy, so this is the perfect time to remember our most famous filmmaker in the field.

In the new film “Fall Guy”, Ryan Gosling plays a stuntman in an action entertainment where we have a situation where these hardened film workers are also in the foreground. You may or may not watch the movie, that is, you won’t get tired if you watch it, and it will probably entertain you.

If the film itself is a dedication to stuntmen, then it’s time for us to remember one of the greatest who was involved in this business – Dragan Stojanović, who we also knew under the name Bata Kameni.

He was born in Lozovik in 1941, but he finished school and the auto mechanic trade in Belgrade.

He has been in the film business since the 60s. He attracted the attention of the assistant directors of the first American-English-Yugoslav film co-production, filmed in the studios of Avala Film in March 1963. He asked the director’s assistant to extend the audition by a few minutes, in order to see him without a shirt, after which he was taken aback by the visible torso, and exclaimed: “Well, where are you now, you’re accepted!” For the role of a pirate in Long ships his hair is dyed blue. So strange for that time, that many boys on the street teased him with shouts of “Father!”. Of course, he quickly solved everything with slaps.

Regardless of the fact that he is a stuntman, whose face should be hidden by some rule, everyone knew Batu Kameny. His character, but also his slaps, remained recognizable, especially in the domestic series “Otpisani”, according to his own admission, he received them in life form. In the uniform of a German soldier in the first episode, he had the task of slapping the then young actor Dragan Nikolić. After two retreats, a second before the slap, only in the third attempt did they film the scene, after which Bata’s fingers remained on Gaga’s cheek for several days. A startled Nikolić just came up and said: “Stones, you kill me, man!”

The popular Prle, but also Tihi, paid him back, by acting countless times as a German soldier during the entire duration of the series, and each time he would end up killed by their bullets.

He will also remain famous as the character who beat Tom Zdravković in the movie Balkan Express. Because of this, Bata Kameni was attacked by Tom’s supporters for years. He ran away with big steps, without pausing, avoiding any explanation or answer to the question: “How are you not ashamed to beat Tom!?”

However, stunts do not only include villains, but also real small roles. Of course, the most common episodes are “bad guys”, in which possible mistakes cast tragic shadows. That is why Kameni, like most brawny men made of muscle, was allergic to bestiality during epic laments, but prided himself on adventures of fearlessness. And with preserved sobriety, which he explained: “It is not at all clear to me why today a modest man is ‘tunjav’, and a decent man is ‘rolled’, they wrote on aljazeera.net about the famous stuntman.

On the set of the movie “Keepers of the Castle”, in which the main roles were played by Burt Lancaster and Tony Savalas, Bata Kameni broke his collarbone. The area where the cascade was to be filmed was thoroughly inspected beforehand and it turned out that everything was clean. “I had the misfortune to fall on the only stump that was barely sticking out of the ground.” Even though they put a cast on me, I continued to work. Regardless of the cast, I was still performing falls.”

There is probably no famous domestic actor or director who did not work with Bata Kameni, and he collaborated with John Huston, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, Angelica Huston, Richard Burton, Anton Edwards, Kirk Douglas and many others.

Of the numerous awards he received, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Niš Film Festival and the plaque for outstanding contribution to Yugoslav film from the Yugoslav Cinematheque stand out.

Bata Kameni was at the top of the Yugoslav stuntmen. Miomir Radević Pigi, Mihajlo Životić Miki, Slavoljub Plavšić Zvonce, Minja Vojvodić, Zoran Vranov and Željko Božić learned his tricks.