Reviews (49)

The boldest, most ambitious film of the 1990's.
Out of the collaboration of three ingenious artists, Dusan Kovacevic, the great writer of comedy, Emir Kusturica, a master of the absurd in film-making, and Goran Bregovic, the most wonderful musician alive, arose "Underground", the most ambitious, most daring, and perhaps simply the best motion picture of the nineties. Kusturica is a supreme magical realist of cinema; he has a hold on the absurd like very few other film directors. For this reason, he was clearly the best man to try and adapt Kovacevic's novel "There Once Was a Country" for the screen. The novel is a brilliant allegory of fifty years in Yugoslav history (1941-1992), written in a multitude of styles, from fairy tale, to comic sketch, to classic tragedy. The scope of the story is enormous, and even Kusturica seems to have some trouble pulling it off, especially towards the end, as the film tends to get out of hand and become rather hard to follow. Nevertheless, on the whole Kusturica's telling of the story is successful. His wonderful direction is only enhanced by the superb cast, hilarious and mad as it is. Performances by already established actors Miki Manojlovic, Slavko Stimac and Lazar Ristovski, as well as the less well known Mirjana Jokovic, are delightfully original, and truly masterful. The film also features a phenomenal soundtrack by the forementioned Bregovic. This is a movie everyone should certainly see, though in all honesty it is only the peoples of Yugoslavia who can truly appreciate it. In fact, the movie is dedicated to those few lost generations who lived through the period in question.

Film Starts Here. Talk about this movie! Buy someone a copy.
When the patriotic Blacky, from the film, has had enough he takes matters into his own hands, with hilarious, redemptive, celebratory results. The film is universal and is very worth watching without subtitles which can be distracting to the excellent acting, but I find that the dialogue helps lend to many metaphorical musings. I plan on watching this film as many times as I've seen Morvern Callar. Too many. The comedy in Underground is fast, subtle, and frequently metaphorical. The musicians are well paid and they are integral to the film. Final thought:"Franz!"

Absolute Masterpiece
Directing, performances and music. This is a movie that you should not miss.

hard to stop analyzing this!
in this installment from kusturica's creation, the similarities between this movie on one hand and on the other {the plato's cave, the second half of the 20th century of yugoslav history, the communist history of european nations, the history of totalitarian societies} make it hard to separate tragic from comic. kusturica continues his creative journey with an updated subject (the dissolution of the yugoslav state) while still employing the same magic-realist set of tools that has made him popular ever since 'time of the gypsies,' music, actors, etc.

the only exception i would take with this movie (and this might have started with 'father is away with business') is my unease, as viewer, with kusturica's program. in other words, when confronted with the burden of kusturica's take on 50 years of communist (yugoslav) history, i cannot easily suspend my critical sense vis a vis history in order to fully enjoy the story. and critical sense and magic-realism don't go well together. yet, somehow, the ever-postponed end leaves the viewer on a good balance.

But how to see it on DVD?
I love this film. I won't mince my words. It's not the greatest film ever made, and I won't conjecture what is, but it's amongst the greatest I've seen (and yes, I have seen a fair few in my time). Those that feel it is a poor film (you'll see that very nearly everyone feels strongly one way or another) just don't get a) what the film did at home as a social commentary or b) that yes, people in that part of the world do party loudly and do practice the art of suspension of disbelief in their culture and upbringing - some people call it appreciation of art and artistry, but never mind all that. We Slavs are a passionate people, for better or worse.

This "review" is really to point out that the widescreen DVD of Underground is available from Australia. I have looked high and low for years for this. There is an Italian DVD release, a Belgian DVD release, but I've only just found (and ordered) the Australian DVD release (Croatian language, English subtitle). Of course, you'll need an appropriate DVD player, but those are easy to come by.

One doesn't have to like the film but please do bother getting your reasons right. ... Read more

Description

In the tumultuous 1950’s, as Tito’s Yugoslavia resists the pressures of Stalinism, a young boy narrates the story of his family’s troubled world. Mesha (Miki Manojlovic), a minor party official in Yugoslavia has been sent away to the mines for fooling around with the voluptuous communist party official.The drama unfolds through the eyes of Mesha’s six year-old naïve son, Malik, who thinks Papa is away on business. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Must see movie.
I am quite amazed that there are no recommendations or comments on this picture from folks once lived life of Malik in ex-Yugoslavia. "The boy's very being does (not) becomes an expression of natural defiance toward the coming communist regime under Tito and its spirit-crushing regime" (cited /
re-worded from last comment) - he is just stepping out of his childhood.
On June 28th. 1948 (what a coincidence - on a same date in 1389 Turk army defeated Serbian army on Kosovo field and on a same date Gavrilo Princip in 1914 committed Sarajevo assassination on Austrian prince Ferdinand - creating excuse for Germany to start 1st.(Great) World War) members of Stalin's Informbiro kicked Yugoslavia out of membership of Joint European Communist Party.
That event gives birth to this movie.
I would recommend much deeper research to interested party on happenings in Yugoslavia (1945-1948 USSR -Yugoslavia relations) in order for that party to get a real feel for Yugoslav society happenings after Resolution of Inforbiro (Bucharest 1948). Eastern block sanctions towards Yugoslavia, few 5 year plans to swim out of those sanctions and hostile breakout from East produced deviant political society of 50's Yugoslavia.
Why am I writing all this historical rubbish?
It is an attempt to make you watch this movie again with (now) seeing Malik as Yugoslavia, his dreams as the Yugoslavian nation dreams, his sick and dying (first love) girlfriend as USSR, his mother as Tito, his father as all innocent Yugoslav political prisoners from early 50's, his father's policeman jailer and friend as Informbiro (Stalin), his father's girlfriend as only good reason to spend some time in political prison....etc...etc... And then comment me back. Or ask me for more info.
I am finding this movie context extremely complex. Being loaded with very hard to catch metaphors doesn't help its easy understanding.

A Favorite!
This is one of my all-time favorite movies!The atmosphere is dreamlike - expressed in the boy's sleepwalking and the unrepressable subconscious - a thing that communism disavows.Thus, the boy's very being becomes an expression of natural defiance toward the coming communist regime under Tito and its spirit-crushing regime. A classic flic.Highly recommended.

Kusturica's best...
It doesn't have the glossy polish of his later and better-known films, but to me thisis Kusturica's best. It's totally sincere, beautifully acted by every single actor and actress, it's interesting, funny, tragic,loveable.Everything that his other films also are but better. ... Read more

Description

Director Emir Kusturica is known outside of his native Bosnia for films such as ARIZONA DREAM, UNDERGROUND and BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT. This early example of his work was shot in his home country in theearly 1980s (when it was still known as Yugoslavia), is set in the 1960s, and follows the fortunes of a young man named Dino (Slavko Stimac). Enthralled by the life that flashes before his eyes in the local cinema, Dino becomes enamored of the criminal life, and enters into a life of petty crime. But when he is rewarded for his work via a liaison with local prostitute Dolly Bell (Ljiljana Blagojevic), his world is turned upside down as he falls in love with her. Showing signs of the stylistic flair that Kusturica was to effectively deploy in later movies, DO YOU REMEMBER DOLLY BELL? is a must-see for fans of his work. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Kusturica is a profound visual poet and a cinematic genius.
I have nothing more to add about TIME OF THE GYPSIES. Everything you need to know about its contents is adequately described in the other reviews. This review is about the director, Emir Kusturica and his films as a whole, all of which are remarkable.

I don't want to say too much, because it is almost sinful to recommend something so exquisite that I fear I will not do it justice. But I will try. Anyone who hasn't seen every one of Emir Kusturica's masterpieces is missing out on the most remarkable creations since the conception of the moving image. I am at a loss for words when it comes to describing what exactly it is that Kusturica does, but I will do my best to give you a glimpse: He combines the surreal with the absurd, to create a result more beautiful and more real than anything I have ever before experienced. He gives you a glimpse of eternity. He gives your life those moments of unpalpability, that remind you that there still is something magical and mystical, that the world is not as calculated and banal as you may once have thought. I would also like to express my utter disgust to whoever is at fault for the delay of the release in the US of Kusturica's masterpiece of masterpieces, UNDERGROUND which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1995. It is a film by a Yugoslavian about the loss of Yugoslavia, and as any work of art built on personal experience, the creator's passions have been torn apart by idiotic critics because of the film's supposed political innuendos. The New Yorker, among other periodicals in the US was first in line to spew its bulls**t american quips all over its critique of the film. I will stop here before this entire review is censored for its explicitness. To the best of my knowledge UNDERGROUND is being released in the US by New Yorker Films on February 9th. Don't miss this film...you have too much to lose.

Magical realism
This film blends real-life heartache and squalor with a poetic dream world. In spite of its many surreal touches, Time of the Gypsies seemed an accurate depiction of the social fabric and sense of economic desperation that characterize Rom life in numerous countries. When beauty, magic, and love exist in these circumstances, they are powerful forces indeed. This film gives us a painfully hard look at world of the gypsies we have scorned and romanticized: we know that our fascination is justified. To have entered their world is a rare privilege, and a real trip. (I too was shocked to read Matlin's lukewarm review.)

Great film, great music, and a great director.
I decided to make, instead of the review, a comment of the film:
I couldn't believe what I was watching at the first 10 minutes. I didn't know if I had to laught, cry or just stare at the tv.
The history of the characters is amazing. One by one envolves you and introduce you to their owne history.
The music is unbelievable, is perfect.
El film por completo es exelente.
Forgive me for the grammar mistakes.

Sublime
The first great film from the greatest living European director. Underground may be a more weighty work, but this is a deeply felt and beautiful movie. The acting is great, the music superb and the art direction grotesque and masterful. It is a fairy tale, an ethnography, a comic caper and a work of neorealism. It succeeds at each level.
If one needs more evidence that this is a vapid and vile age, please note that this, one of the great masterworks of recent world cinema, is available only on VHS, while that Silent Bob releases on DVD interviews in which he pontificates away.

maybe my favorite movie.
First of all, I'm not a reviewer, I don't believe in deep or intelligent reviews but in feelings or sensations caused by a specific movie to a particular person.
I first time saw this movie when I was no more than 14 years old. I saw it with my parents, and to be honest, I wasn't very excited at the moment... but ten minutes later I was unable to take away my eyes and mind from the screen. This film made me cry, laugh, think and then cry again. It made a point of change, It taught me WHAT I want from a movie, and it showed me that this kind of movie is unfortunately rare. ... Read more