The films of Emir Kusturica

I'm a bit surprised that this great bosnian director doesn't have a thread here. True, this is a US site, but his films have been widely acclaimed and gathered many awards at Venice, Cannes, Berlin and Karlovy Vary festivals (there was even an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Film).

Emir Kusturica on IMDB



Crna macka, beli macor (Black Cat, White Cat) - 1998

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One of my most favourite films ever. Wild, crazy, chaotic, hilarious, with a lot of catchy Gypsy music, Balkan humour, alcohol flowing, and of course geese and other domestic animals running around. It shows the life of the Bulgarian Gypsies living on the banks of Danube. Oh, and the music is absolutely awesome.

Synopsis from virginmedia.com:

Rubbish dump tycoon and gypsy Godfather, Grga Pitic and cement?works owner Zarije are the best of friends even though they haven?t seen each other for 25 years. Zarije?s good?for?nothing son Matko asks Grga to bankroll a black market deal involving a trainload of petrol, lying about Zarije?s death to secure the loan. Matko brings crazed gypsy criminal and former war criminal Dadan in on the deal which goes sour, leaving Matko with a debt to Dadan which must be repaid by the enforced marriage of Matko?s son Zare to Dadan?s diminuitive sister Afrodita. On the wedding day the unhappy couple refuse to co?operate, Zarije appears to die ? this time for real ? and Grga makes a surprise visit, resulting in chaotic scenes in which wrongs will hopefully be put right.

A must-see for any lover of good comedies.



Zivot je cudo (Life Is A Miracle) - 2004

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Another wild ride through Balkan, as it said on the Czech posters when this film opened there. Not as crazy and openly hilarious as Black Cat, White Cat; the humour is slightly more subtle here, but it's a nice look into how normal people tried to live and deal with the Balkan war.

Synopsis from michaeldvd.com.au:

Life Is A Miracle begins on the eve of the Bosnian war of 1992. Luka, a railway engineer, spends much of his time babysitting a partially completed railway system and constructing scale models of his plans for the network. Luka's wife, Jadranka, and son, Milos, are not as enamoured by the railway as he is, in fact they resent him for dragging them away from the city to a boring life in the sticks. Milos has aspirations to become a professional soccer player and Jadranka was once an admired opera star, but her talents are now relegated to seedy local functions and political fundraisers. Against their expectations, the war begins and Milos is called to arms, reluctantly of course, and at the farewell party his emotionally unstable mother flees with a passing Hungarian musician, leaving Luka to fend for himself.

In a matter of days Milos is reported missing, presumed captured by the enemy. As if by fate, Luka is landed with the responsibility of watching over Sabaha, a Muslim nurse whom Luka initially hopes to trade for his captured son. As any adult would know, sparks can fly in the most unusual of places, so with an absent wife and little to do, the housebound Luka and Sabaha get well acquainted amid the falling shells and machinegun fire. Trouble is, when it comes time for his son to return home, can Luka possibly bear to part with his new found sweetheart?

One of my favourite parts of this film, where I literally applauded, was at the end, when the prisoner-of-war exchange was taking place. An American reporter (blabbering away all the typical clichés) is asking Milos (who'd just reunited with his father) whether he was prepared to die for the freedom of Bosnia. Milos impassively takes the mike, burps loudly into it, and hands it back to the stunned reporter. It was so clearly saying "**** off, you don't k

 

I've heard of the first one and the last one, but I've never been able to snag a copy. They sound like fun.

 

Oh, you must definitely see Black Cat, White Cat, it's a hilarious comedy.


Also, a funny thing I've noticed while I was compiling the first thread, that most of Kusturica's films got R rating in the USA. I suppose this is due to alcohol and drug use, and some strong language, but ironically, neither Black Cat, White Cat nor Life Is A Miracle (which are his only two films I've seen so far) seem like typical R movies. Even the drug use is hilarious (well, by no means it's glorified, but admit it, snorting cocaine from railway tracks while lying on one's stomach on a slowly moving open air wagon at night is a pretty funny picture... ). You tend to skip over these things and only see the films as pure comedy.

 

"Arizona Dreams" sounds bizarre. What was that about an Inuit hunter?

 

No idea...

 

Black Cat, White Cat is now available on YouTube in its entirety! I can't post a direct link, as that would apparently be a TOS violation, but if you search in YouTube for "crna macka beli macor" (the original title), you should find it easily.