Black marketeers Marko and Blacky manufacture and sell weapons to the Communist resistance in WWII Belgrade, living the good life along the way. Marko's surreal duplicity propels him up the ranks of the Communist Party, and he eventually abandons Blacky and steals his girlfriend. After a lengthy stay in a below-ground shelter, the couple reemerges during the Yugoslavian Civil War of the 1990s as Marko sees the opportunity to exploit the situation.
Direction
Kusturica's controlled chaos — every frame screams with life.
Score
Goran Bregović's brass band madness that never lets up.
Production
Underground sets so immersive you'll smell the gunpowder.
Director
Emir Kusturica
Predrag 'Miki' Manojlović
Marko Dren
Lazar Ristovski
Petar 'Crni' Popara
Mirjana Joković
Natalija Zovkov
Slavko Štimac
Ivan Dren
Ernst Stötzner
Franz
Srđan 'Žika' Todorović
Jovan Popara
Mirjana Karanović
Vera
Milena Pavlović Čučilović
Jelena
Danilo 'Bata' Stojković
Deda
Borivoje Todorović
Golub
Davor Dujmović
Bata
dr Nele Karajlić
Falling Gypsy
Branislav Lečić
Mustafa
Dragoslav 'Dragan' Nikolić
Film Director
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kusturica faced death threats and accusations of treason for this film; Serbian nationalists hated its mockery of partisan hero mythology, while some critics called it self-Orientalizing Balkan spectacle for Western awards.
The underground tunnels were built on a massive soundstage, but Kusturica insisted on real explosions and live animals — that goose in the opening? Actually on fire. Multiple times.
YU
