Black Cat, White Cat ***
rated R USA Films 127 minutes in Serbo-Croatian and Romany with English subtitles starring Bajram Severdzan, Florijan Ajdini, Jas'ar Destani, Adnan Bekir, Zabit Mehmedovski, Sabri Sulejmani, Srdan Todorovi c, Salija Ibraimova written by Gordan Mihic and Emir Kusturica directed by Emir Kusturica
On the way home from a recent movie screening, a friend of mine was telling me about the sorry state of modern cinema. I remarked that I'm looking forward to so many different movies this autumn. He replied that the only flick he was looking forward to was "Black Cat, White Cat", from the director of "the all-time greatest film", "Time Of The Gypsies".
His recommendation and the film's title intrigued me, so I rented myself a copy of Emir Kusturica's "Gypsies". It took a while for the film to grab me, but once it did I was mesmerized beyond belief. The film, about a young man who rebels against his Gypsy ways in order to make a fortune, was both funny and powerful. Once the end credits finished rolling, and I was still glued to my chair, Kusturica had worked his way into the "favorite directors" section of my mind.
In 1995, Emir Kusturica won the Palme D'Or at Cannes for his overlong epic "Underground", which told the tale of 50 war-torn years in his native Yugoslavia. However, when he was attacked by the French press for being not sufficiently anti-Serb, he publicly vowed to give up filmmaking. But luckily, a couple of years later he was convinced to embark on a documentary about Gypsy musicians, and that documentary has turned into the fictional "Black Cat, White Cat".
Like all of Kusturica's films, this one is centered around a quirky wedding ceremony. A man named Matko (Bajram Severdzan) has engineered a failed train robbery, and to repay his debt to the wealthy Dadan (Srdan Todorovic, from "Underground"), he must force his unwilling son, Zare (Florijan Ajdini) to marry Dadan's tiny sister. The result is the uneven, rollicking Gypsy fun that has become Kusturica's trademark.
All his films have complicated plotlines, but the story is never the point. Kusturica's films are about culture, and the ironic effects it has on our daily life. Music is always a big part of Gypsy culture, and these tunes in "Black Cat, White Cat" do not disappoint.
Because "Black Cat, White Cat" features less drama than Kusturica's other productions, I was expecting to be disappointed. But this film is a spirit-lifter; one that will entertain you with its farcical comic sensibility.
In the end, this wild party is a bit long, but I was sad to leave this world of Gypsies, mobsters and overall quirkiness. "Black Cat, White Cat" is a fine, joyous work, and a wonderful slice of Gypsy life. But before you rush out to see it, rent "Time Of The Gypsies", and let me know what you think.
note: Emir Kusturica won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. That award is well deserved.
a review by Akiva Gottlieb akiva@excite.com http://cinemania.8m.com
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