Life Is a Miracle (2004)

There is nothing worse than a talented filmmaker that is trapped inside is own creation. Emir Kusturica is one of those cases. He reinvented the way comedy is done, he showed the world a new approach on making movies. But now... what once was funny, now is stupid, what once was powerful, now is ridiculous, what once was deep, meaningfull but yet entertaining, now is just superficial and cheap laughs. The man that brought us movies like Underground is now reduced to a pale, shallow imitation of himself. Even the music suffers. The brilliance of Goran Bregovic is now replaced with a boring repetitive tune that plays on and on through the entire film. If you're a die hard fan of Kusturica's movies go ahead, but for everyone else, please stick to the good old ones.

Fmovies: For those who have already seen other Kusturica movies, this one will clearly be seen as a further step in the evolution of a great director. Some of his trademark ingredients are there: the basic carnal pleasures of life, the tragicomic Balkan-style eating/drinking/making love, his deep dislike for war and for any type of inter-ethnic strife, his heartfelt contempt for international organisations which did not prevent the massacres in former Yugoslavia, his entirely non-PC men and women characters, his optimism. These are recurring layers of his Balkan moussaka, but perhaps more are being added, as his optimism appears now turning into a nearly messianic faith that eventually, by helping each other, things will be as good as they can (though not impossibly so, as in Hollywood...).

It is not something one might rationally believe, but it is enchanting nonetheless.

Ultimately this is a movie about human hope, unpolluted by religious nonsense. There lays its real value.

Talented forward Milos Djukic dreams of playing for Partizan Belgrado. But his dream shatters when the war between the Serbians and Bosnians escalates. He gets drafted by the Serbian army and must report for duty. Disaster strikes when he gets captures. The only way to free him is to trade him for a Bosnian nurse who's held captive at his fathers house.

The least i can say about this movie is that is surprised me. Surprised by its drama, comedy, romance, absurdity.. Yes, this movie has it all. It combines all genres in a terrific mixture which interested me from the beginning until the end. Which is not an easy thing to do considering that this movie lasts two and a half hours. It gets along quite smoothly without real twists in the plot or having to accelerate 'cause there isn't a real climax this movie strives to (accept the obvious one, but thats not what this movie is really about).

Don't expect to get blown away by this picture, it wont knock your socks off. It'll give you a nice, subtle, smooth ride for your money.

8/10

Life Is a Miracle fmovies. Kusturica repeats himself, it's the first thing that comes to mind when leaving the cinema. Still, this is not necessarily a negative sign, for an author who has been able to create "Underground" or "Black cat, white cat". This movie is an authentic hymn of joy to life, love and humanity (sure, also that grotesque humanity that in the Balkan countries may look wild sometimes), thus we can be happy that Kusturica has achieved once again this objective. In addition, Kusturica stress here in an unusual way for him the real power of sentiment between two persons which can overcome war and ethnic division.

However, the instruments that Kusturica uses are this time too familiar for us and we cannot avoid the impression of the repetition of the same gags and expressions that we have seen in his previous films. This "déjà vu" becomes impressed in our minds since the beginning, just after the magnificent aperture of the movie. A "déjà vu" which allows us to anticipate the gestures of the each character. In addition, the carnaval does not allow to catch the important political assumption of this movie, which is that that war was a war instigated by all illegal dealers on both sides to preserve and increase their traffics and that first of all the fights happened within each camp, to eliminate those who were promoting a fair and decent life (see the murder of the Serbian mayor by his Serbian deputy). This political assumption is one of the strongest elements of the movie, but is Kusturica's carnaval reinforcing or diluting this powerful message?

I believe that Kusturica is now come to a real crossroad: either he continues to follow his colorful and sometimes grotesque representation of the Balkan soul and in this way simply repeating himself or is he addressing new territories with different instruments. This movie represents some old and some new for him: this is its strength and its weakness. I hope to see Kusturica taking the challenge and using his immense creativity to enter into a new dimension.

Emir Kuturica offers us an incredibly alive cast and a gripping journey to experiencing the whole gamma of saturated human emotions. Whether at peaceful life or at war, sharing joy of being with friends or bitter taste of parting, the characters in the film are given a fascinating ability to see beauty in every moment of their life. They are bright personalities, they are full of dignity, they are honest and direct in their feelings, and they experience life to the full. Lively motion of camera & beautiful sceneries bring the final touch. A remarkably colourful film. Highly recommend to everybody who is into really good cinema.

Life is a miracle-a great title for a great movie

Kusturica has the talent to give us a film that will make the saddest person smile and think to himself that life is really a miracle, while it lasts, and we should enjoy every second...the movie transports it's viewers to a typical Kusturica world, full of music and dreamy situations. He tries to show us that life is not written in a straight line, that the most unexpected events like falling in love in the most dreadful scenario (i.e. war) can happen when you least expect it.

A film that touches the human soul, that will make you cry as well as laugh... just like real life.