Once Brothers
2010 Directed by Michael Tolajian
Synopsis
Dreams brought them together. Reality tore them apart.
Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to USA where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face each other on the basketball courts of the NBA, no words passed between the two. Then, on the fateful night of June 7, 1993, Drazen Petrovic was killed in an auto accident. This film will tell the gripping tale of these men, how circumstances beyond their control tore them apart, and whether Divac has ever come to terms with the death of a friend before they had a chance to reconcile.
Recent reviews
More-
Wasn't expecting much going in, but this was a fascinating subject and interesting documentary as much about civil war and friendship between opposing sides as it was about basketball. It was well executed and offered a different way to tell a story that I enjoyed.
-
A documentary for every basketball fan to watch!
-
An emotional look at two basketball legends and there friendship.
-
Basketball against the backdrop of the breaking apart of Yugoslavia, a poignant story but with a 'made for TV' quality to it.