Underground (1995)

For anyone interested in Kusturica's work, this is my favorite. Don't get discouraged because it's set someplace you never traveled before... People are all alike. You'll recognize the patterns easily.

It tells a story how come a country which appeared to everyone inside as an uniquely ideal world (they aren't aware where they are) could abruptly dissolve in a really, really bloody war the moment that the outside interferes... And more then that: it lets you LIVE AND LEARN through this experience yourself! It tells what time heals, or can't heal. It tells a lot about people, and about powers of mass deception, and examines personal issues arising from such a condition. It talks about a different set of values, which can be understood only in a specific situation. It makes you understand the Balkans as well as any other region held together by a weird, claustrophobic mix of hundreds of years of love and war on a small piece of land, a thread so fragile that it would break if love gets any more removed from war then it ever was.

The sense of time in this movie is marvelously directed, and the reason it starts as an action flick but then at one point starts to drag towards the end is... because there is always, always a slowdown just before the next big boom/collapse; don't fight this feeling or you'll miss on the experience.

It is like the Truman Show without the Hollywood ending.

The movie is based on a play from Serbian master playwright, Dusan Kovacevic. Anything based on his plays is well worth the watching.

Fmovies: Underground is without a doubt, one of the very finest movies to emerge from Europe. After seeing Underground, one realizes that one has just witnessed cinema at one of it's highest levels. This movie is what "The Tin Drum" was supposed to be, and so much more. Absolutely Brilliant on all levels.

If you get a chance to see this projected on a sheet in an unheated high school gym with hard chairs and flat Pepsi, DON'T MISS IT. You can get a VHS copy--DO IT. (Unfortunately, there's no DVD ... YET, right, New Yorker Films?) I walked into an art house theatre in Nashville, Tennessee, no reviews, no word of mouth, just this poster of a woman wearing a red dress, her arms wrapped around the barrel of a tank's cannon. I came out one second (or was it two and half hours?) later a different person. People and movies are imperfect things--this one is messy, joyous, horrific, ecstatic, beat, danceable, romantic, provocative, drunk--this movie tastes like Slivovitz and sounds like Heaven's carnival. And there's a monkey. Once there was a country ...

Underground fmovies. While attending college in Boston a Croatian friend of mine told me about this movie. I rented it a few days later, and let me say this is one of the greatest foreign films I have seen. While the historical and political substance of the film is largely missed by me, the story is strong enough that I connected emotionally with it. The humor of the film is very refreshing, being used to war films that are too heavy or dull to make me laugh. I recommend this film to anyone who appreciates a well told story. You will be rewarded with a beautiful picture.

Underground by Emir Kusturica is absolutely phenomenal. Blending 60 years of history, wars, politics, ideas, lies and tragedy into 170mins with, irony, vibrancy, music, life, poetry and beauty whilst still retaining a genuine optimism in the face of it all.

Effortlessly. An entertaining dark comedy that weaves how generations of people get screwed over by the corruption of their politicians and their own friends out for selfish gain. So much density of politics and history compressed into such a personal story expressed through actual war footage, real political figures, self reflexivity, theatricality, music and a totally relentless narrative that isn't afraid to switch up from comedy to tragedy from one scene to the next without pandering to formulaic structure in an effort to satisfy an audience.

Underground is The Film, my favorite... And nobody hasn't written any greeting comments in 2005. So, I'm happy to be the first and I wish the best year 2005 to all the Underground's fans. If you never had this chance to see the long version (5 hours) of the film, give your priority, this year, to watch it. After this, the Palme d'Or version will feel you so short!!! If you live in Paris, I can help you to discover the complete Chef d'Oeuvre.

Therefore, I understand that the film could be criticized on the political depths. But it is so easy to make movies without any involvement. Kusturica worked for 3 years on the film and involved himself on the content. But the film treatment is not only about Balkans war, but mainly about human ferocity and betrayment. Speaking Cinema, there is no film controlling so well aestheticism, scenario, actors, music and creativity. Emir did it and I am sorry that some arrogant journalists killed the film, getting it off the Cinema theaters without the popular success that Underground deserved.