The Marathon Family

The Marathon Family (Maratonci trče počasni krug, 1982) is a Yugoslav black comedy by Slobodan Šijan you can watch online on iFILM. Set in the years between the two world wars, it follows the Topalović clan — undertakers who have been selling coffins for generations.

Five generations of men share one roof. The youngest is twenty-five, the eldest past a hundred and twenty, and each clings to the burial trade in his own greedy way. When ancient Pantelija finally dies, his heirs turn on each other over the inheritance. The youngest Topalović wants out entirely; he would rather be with his girl Kristina and his friend Đenka, who runs a tiny cinema. Then Kristina's father, coffin supplier Billy Python, demands a higher price, and the feud spills across two households at once.

Šijan turned a coffin into both merchandise and metaphor in this mean, grotesque fable about money and family rot. The film has long been quoted line for line and stands among the most beloved works of Serbian cinema. The humor is pitch-black, almost macabre — perfect for anyone who likes Balkan farce with a corpse in the room. Stream The Marathon Family (1982) online on iFILM.