CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
in_area51
Terrible... Pathetic...If anything, it is now obvious that the cursed city of Sarajevo (and its authors like Sidran) made Kusturica, once upon a time.Without the inspiration from there, he is forced to imitate himself -- as someone else pointed out. If we forget his American adventure (Arizona Dream), the decay of his movies was apparent already when "Underground" came out, but it was still bearable. "Black cat, white cat" was still watchable, though clearly worse than the rest. This one is simply pathetic.Rest In Peace, Emir of Dolly Bell...
Fabrizio
Life is really a miracle, or rather some miracles. And one of them is to realize that at least one director, despite of the lack of ideas, capabilities, culture and courage nowadays creeping through the modern cinema background, can still shoot such wonderful masterpieces. Kusturica perfectly draws scenes and characters, plays with music and animals, skilfully weaves the plot and cover the whole lenght of the movie with something magic that only a Jugoslavian can create. This is film obviously shows also a dramatic and harsh reality, but always relieved by a light-hearted approach to life.I do not really understand how can someone assert that this movie is a copy or a repetition of previous Kusturica's ones. Should have any sense, for example, a critic to the great Kurosawa because some of his genial masterpieces are similar one another or since they deal always with samurai's stories?
gundif
contains sort of spoilers, I guess - This is a movie about how life goes on during and because of war. I totally disagree with the opinion that it is "bleak" or "too heartwarming". I feel that those who think that way, do not get it. :-] Neither do I feel any of the sides (last Balkan war '92) is portrayed as "better" than the other.This is the one Kusturica movie that I would call not entertaining, but really providing a perspective on things. It clearly illustrates what he said in his recent interview on TV.If you have seen a traditional war movie, well this is the real one. Where people on the opposite side are not portrayed as fiends. Where things happen as crazily as they do in life. Where a war is something that happens during people's lives, rather than instead of them. You keep waiting for the moment, where the horrors of war should start. But they don't. They remain mostly out of scene, unsaid and untold, and thus you feel reminded of them constantly.Altogether, one of the best movies I've ever seen.
dragosiulian
I think this movie won't surprise anyone who has already seen another movie by this great film-maker: it is the same place (Blakans) and style as we are used to. If you liked his other movies, you will surely like this one too.The story develops around a small bosnian village, where the lives of his inhabitants are changed by the war that shattered Bosnia 12 years ago. So far nothing extraordinary, but what makes his movies different are the atmosphere and life that springs out of every image. There are two levels at which you can perceive this movie: the first is the rational level: the story, the gags (as in all his movies, humor has a central part) and so on. The second might be called irrational, because it has to do with identification and feelings: you are taken out of your seat and are part of what happens on the screen. Drama is placed very closely to comedy, and sometimes the change is so sudden your laughs freeze on your face. This I guess is the landmark of this movie: dramatic scenes build upon, and increase their strength from, funny scenes. After all, nothing can be taken seriously in the Balkans :-)I won't say too much about the story, partly because I don't want to spoil your fun, partly because I feel it's unimportant. Suffice to say that the war is presented only by its "reflection" in peoples lives -- this is what matters most in Kusturica's view. There are no battle scenes.I think the only thing I can reproach is that once or twice I felt the gags were exaggerated, a bit unnatural. But all Kusturica's movies have a dose of fantastic, so this is not a real problem.I cannot end without pointing out the great performance of the lead actor, Slavko Stimac (Luka). All in all, I would strongly recommend this movie.
