Sokol didn't like him

After filming the drama, he and director Ivo Štivčić sat down at Gavell's buffet. Fabijan began to say that he was particularly impressed by the scene in which the character of Šubić says: - I lost one son in the partisans, they sent me a thank-you note, I lost another son in the Ustashas, ​​they sent me a thank-you note, one was killed in the retreat with the Home Guards, and I won't give the fourth! –

Fabijan said that it is a true drama of a Slavonian family. He told how it was the drama of his uncle, cousin, neighbor and the whole of Slavonia. Then the idea was born in him to tell the life story of his family. Ten years later, he wrote the script for the play "Sokol didn't love him", which became a theater hit in the eighties.

- I wrote Sokol by remembering the German-Croatian situation. My uncle's journey to Dravograd and back inspired me to create my own face. To transfer my uncle's path to one of my faces. And I was lucky enough to play that face on stage 230 times! - Fabijan said twenty years later during a conversation with the great Štivčić.

Together with director Branko Schmidt, the film of the same name was shot in Fabijan's native Ladimirevci, a village not far from Valpovo. There, as a small boy, Fabijan witnessed the stories of his neighbors about the war that was raging at the time.

- It happened that the same house had several uniforms, and several times these uniforms met at the same table, and it was always more peaceful and beautiful in our house than when, by chance, those same people and those same uniforms met on the battlefield, especially at night. - wrote Fabijan in his "Acting Notes".

Fabijan also found inspiration for the grumpy horse Sokol in his own boyhood home. - He had, we had when we were young, a horse called Sokol. We all admired him, but my brother loved him the most. And uncle's son Ignja loved Sokol very much. - he explained.

Fabijan played the title role of the Slavonian peasant and father of Šima, while Fabijan gave the role of his son Benoš to his son Filip. The inspiration for the character of Benoš came from the life story of his cousin.

- That cousin of ours was hiding in the attic again from the Swabians, the Ustasha, and the uncle did not give him to the partisans, because he would have perished since the fathers of the young men who joined the partisans were arrested as hostages and taken to concentration camps. There were six of us weak, so then the uncle brought his son from the army and hid him in the attic for about five months. My grandmother kept telling me not to tell anyone about it, because we will all end up in a camp or under military court. Wherever Ignja went, we were supposed to be killed and I knew what that meant, so I kept quiet. –

Fabijan's cousin ended up in the partisans, where he died tragically. In his old age, Fabijan said that his cousin's death and his uncle's grief were his worst childhood memories.

Remembering the family tragedy, the talented actor created a script for a popular play, and later the film "Sokol didn't love him". Although the film was criticized at the time of its release due to the controversial scenes that appear in it, today it is considered one of the anthology films of Croatian production, if not its best achievement.