Special Education (1977)

The story follows Pera 'Trta', a smalltown youth from somewhere around Belgrade, a lovable petty thief and a pick-pocket who, after his soliciting mother gets dispatched to a mental institution, finds himself under the arm of social services and in a youth correction home. There, among a host of initially hostile but colourful characters he befriends Ljupce, a handsome yet antisocial lad who won't speak - he is apparently scarred by witnessing his own mother's murder in the past - and soon they become inseparable, Pera assuming the role of Ljupce's interpretor and public relations manager to the rest of the world, girls in particular. They are both under supervision of Zarko, one of the team leaders at the institution, a troubled character himself, stubborn but sensible and caring, and known to do things his own way and not by the book.