Few films just simply fascinate me. As an American Boomer, I am admittedly spoiled and quite jaded, when it comes to movies. This film tantalized me and enthralled me. I felt like a kid at a carnival. The rich cinematography was palpable. The beauty of the chaotic and very non-Pasteurized world of these kooky gypsies and country folk was unexpectedly stunning. And it was so funny! Just plain old funny! The acting was superb. I recognized some favorite character actors from other films I have seen from Yugoslavia. (Look for the Nail Lady). The only glitch for me was an occasional sense that the subtitles could not convey the full impact of the obviously earthy and colloquial dialogue. The film seems to proudly carry on the zany comedy tradition of Europe in the sixties, such as the Pink Panther series and the Czech "Firemen's Ball". I regret I did not see this in a theater with the howling audience it deserves.
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paulcreeden3 January 2001
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vertigoandstrangelove10 December 2002Emir Kusturica's films all pulsate wildly to the wonderful sounds of authentic gypsy music. Guitars, fiddles, accordians and all manor of horns are as much a part of their lives as eating and sleeping.
Song and dance feature heavily in "Black Cat, White Cat," Kustruica's finest and most complete film to date. The music isn't really a soundtrack, but is largely, physically written into each scene (performed with gusto by musicians who often follow the characters around). Indeed, the 'bad-guy' character of Dadan scarcely has a scene where he isn't swinging or dancing along to something (even a bizarre pop/rock song makes a comic cameo). But the other characters have their musical moments as well.
"Black Cat, White Cat" has a large cast and a sprawling storyline, largely resolving around two gangsters - Dadan and the hapless Marko - and their attempts to outwit each other. Things come to a head when Dadan tries to force Marko's son to marry his spinster sister as a repayment for one of his father's debts.
But the plot is largely unimportant in a film of this type. The viewer is simply swept away in a good natured deluge of funny lines, inventive slap-stick, unusual settings and colourful supporting characters (a particular favourite: the old man who continually re-watches the last two minutes of "Casablanca"). All you need to do is sit back and enjoy. Oh...and listen to the music. -
Mimil1 November 1998I saw UNDERGROUND and I have been very impressed, and one month ago I went to the movie theater in order to see BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT and it was the illumination: "What a great movie!" I told myself. The music is very good, very captivating and structures all the movie. It make us discover a not very known culture: the tsigan culture which is very interesting and where music is very important.
That movie stands out the RETURN of Emir Kusturica. -
GK-129 February 2000This is an extremely quirky film, riddled with crazy caricatures of East European mafiosi and small time crooks. It sports some of the most imaginative characters I have ever seen on a screen (a woman who pulls nails with her buttocks?) and some of the most bizarre scenes.And yet the film is beautifully balanced, never falling into outright lunacy or losing the plot.
The scenes are at times almost nostalgic, a throwback to some simpler time when you could just have fun, no holds barred. And that is exactly what this film does for me - I have not had as much fun in ages. You will leave the theater with a feel-good factor 10 and thank out loud the people who created this gem.
Kusturica is a phenomenon. -
grob24811 July 2000"Underground" may still be the most monumental and brilliant work from Kusturica, yet this movie is just so damn feel-good and enjoyable that the man earns my highest praises yet again. Being a sort of comedic parallel to "Time of the Gypsies," old ways clash with the new in this hilarious comedy about Gypsies living on the bank of Danube river. Gangsters, dirty deals, weddings, eccentric characters, great music (played by the orchestra from "Underground"), delicious Eastern European atmosphere - "Black cat, white cat" has it all. I love it. Kusturica is a master of his craft. I tink, dis is de begining of a beautiful frendship...
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inframan17 September 1999This movie, like Underground, is so brilliant, so inventive, so full of ideas & images & imagination & feeling & humanity & humor that beside it American/Hollywood movies are like Campbell's chicken noodle soup, with too much water, all of them, no exception. Kusturica has to be the greatest living film director & the greatest director in at least 50 years. One would have to go back to Renoir & Rules of the Game to find a film with the energy & brilliance of Black Cat White Cat. Bravo, Kusturica. BRAVO!!!
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With the chaos that engulfed the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, many people probably would have guessed that comedies could never come out of there. "Crna macka, beli macor" (called "Black Cat, White Cat" in English) would disprove that completely! After hustler Matko Destanov's (Bajram Severdzan) business fails, he agrees with gangster Dadan Karambolo (Srdan Todorovic) to marry his son off to Karambolo's daughter. But the two youngsters aren't quite ready to be married off just yet, and they'll do whatever they have to in order to fulfill their own wishes! "Black Cat, White Cat" is mainly interesting because we get to see a culture that we rarely see. Life in the Balkans doesn't look pretty, but this movie makes everything look funny. Emir Kusturica is truly one of a kind.
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gonz303 May 1999A return welcome for Emir Kusturica. His BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT is light entertainment, fun and uplifting. It's great to see all the "old Gypsies" back. They haven't aged much in 12 years. Maybe TIME OF THE GYPSIES, the English title of his darker classic on the subject, meant that the gypsies, and Kusturica's in particular, are TIME-less. Vibrant, and colorful, this master director's latest masterpiece turns cliche' into new fresh entertainment.
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One must not need to don a sociologist's hat to understand the funny ways,bizarre manners and traditional behavioral patterns of Balkan gypsy people. As they are true to life they form everlasting bonds with the most common of people.According to Kusturica,an essential lesson that can be learned from his film is that for Gypsies the honor of the family is sacrosanct and ethical codes have to be followed. Black cat,White cat is a powerful example of a film with huge doses of black humor.It is true that love or methods of getting love remain some of the basic premises of this film but it shows more than that. It shows a grim state of affairs which the Balkan nations experiences after their break up.A word about this film's laughing tactics.It is a joyful laughing riot based on daily life's absurdities. It is not a humor resulting from the cruel depiction of a person falling as a result of having put his feet on a banana peel.Mention must be made of its soundtrack which has been done by a team of three people.
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martenot29 April 2006I may not spend much time reviewing other movies but this one is worth writing a few words. It is one of the few movies in a decade that you can call genius work. The plot, the filming, the actors, the rhythm, the music, the melting of tenderness and bluntness all make justice to the words crazy, beauty and art.
In some way, it reminds me of the sheer creativity of Amelie (Poulain). It is art, for the only pleasure of conveying beauty and emotions. And as much as Amelie should be seen in French, I can only recommend to see this movie in the original Gypsy language to fully enjoy the magic of this beautiful world, so strange and yet so real. -
fredberglyle21 January 2014Let me tell you before I review that I don't understand the movie's language but still loved it. I might/ should have missed lots of the language/regional stuffs present in the movie since I'm not Serbian.
Emir Kusturica takes the imagination to the brink. He really did understand the life of gypsies for he has taken the movie so well. The music is cool to me (my two favorite Danube songs - Blue and Waves). The screenplay is comically written that scripts love at teens, miseries at middle age and alcoholism at old-age with two cats. Srdjan Todorovic is a superb actor (He makes me laugh every-time I see 'm on screen in this movie -- "Pitbull... Terrier") and his slapstick were too good. Few issues (just 'remote'-st ones) : The movie story doesn't make sense and movie is too much chaotic and not everyone understands the movie. -
adrian7924 January 2002Flawless example of higher quality cinematography schooling, inspiration and resources, Black Cat, White Cat is one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the gypsy communities along the lower Danube aswell as their differences in both nature and character. The Marquez like type of narration illustrated and photographed by the most talented crew and performers, the drama of the perpetual search for true love embodied in a gangster like conflict, spiced with refined humor and raw local language aphorisms brings both life and character to the sequel of the Time Of The Gypsies. Much faster paced, this work of art leaves no time to contemplate but urges the viewer to follow the stream like story line, bringing forward all the aspects of the society of the nomads. Influences from hindu, middle eastern, balkanic and latin cultures are absorbed into the sponge of the gypsy spirituality, one of the last ones to reach fulfillment by just singing and dancing.
Bravo Kusturica, another great work of art and thank all gypsies for all their deeds, right or wrong, still beautiful! -
valadas14 July 2003This movie is a succession of totally crazy scenes in a farcical style. Some of the gags make you laugh a lot while some others not so much. A community of gypsies, dealers, gangsters and small business people live by the Danube in Yugoslavia. A petty trafficker is trying to survive among maffia barons to whom he seems to owe money, ending by consenting in the marriage of his 17 year old son with the sister of one of the barons against the will of them both. This story evolves in a series of funny episodes performed by extrovert characters typical of that region of the world in an atmosphere of folklore and permanent movement. Not a brilliant movie but an amusing one at least.
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tomjbrowne29 September 2011I must say, I don't understand why so many believe this movie is brilliant and praise Kusturica so much. The movie doesn't even make sense most of the time. The story line is confusing and the characters are very similar to each other which makes it even more difficult to keep up with. There are some funny and well thought episodes, but all in all it is not a good movie I have to say. You kind of wait for something to happen that makes sense and binds the movie together but it never seems to appear, which is kind of annoying when watching a movie.
I wonder if people tried to abstract from the fact that it is a movie by Kusturica, would they still think it was a brilliant movie? I doubt it. I have no knowledge of Kusturica or the Balkans which is maybe why I didn't understand all the cultural and humorous attended scenes but that shouldn't really be a criteria for a movie in order to watch it. -
Hacki6 February 1999Emir Kusturicas new film is a great example of good movie-entertainment. From the very first moment on it appears sympathetic to us. You see a man lying lazily in the sun, above him a hamster running in a wheel that drives a strange mechanical fan. In the background we hear some traditional Jugoslav music. A boat arrives with Russian goods and we see the little crook making a deal with the people on the ship. Of course everything goes wrong. Kusturica makes us love the strange environment and the strange people he presents us. The plot is complex as there are many people involved. Yet their patterns of behavior seem familiar to us; the jokes are mainly slapstick and the viewer can easily guess how the fairytale-like story will end. The director also puts very much thought into details, that eventually give the story the "final touch". One can sometimes compare his talent in this field to the great master Jacques Tati. There for example is a pig which is about to eat the inner parts of an old German "Trabant"-car, every time we see it (about four times) the car is more wrecked. There are the two cats that are seen coupling next to two ice-cooled corpses in the attic of an old house. The big difference to other comedies using the same structures and methods is that Kusturica really loves his characters and shows that all their "faults" are part of their personality; the figures in this strange society are basically like you and me.
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Mort-313 September 2001This is a gangster film with lively, exaggerated characters, excentric men and resolute women, a weird plot and many visual gags. Kusturica shows the gypsies' life-style again in his last movie, with less depth and power than in Underground`, but with more ribald humour. Ugly and not too intelligent people (without exception!) chase and kill each other and their animals through a nice-looking landscape in the Balcans, listening to modern but also traditional gypsy music; loud, sometimes too loud, but original and in love with life. It's refreshing to see a convincing gangster movie without people in black suits and sun-glasses.
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manxman-19 October 2002Think about the Marx Brothers on LSD. Then double it. Then treble it. So what's the movie about? Well, there's this gypsy, a minor black marketeer, and his teenage son dealing with the cargo ships that drift down the river where they live. The father wants to hit it big - hijack a fleet of gasoline tankers. He needs a partner to set the whole deal up so he approaches a sex-crazed, gun-toting, fellow black marketeer who just happens to have an ugly, dwarflike sister whom nobody will marry. What's that? She doesn't want to get married? Okay, then tie her to a rope and throw her down the well until she agrees! A wicked double-cross takes place and the teenage son must marry the dwarf to save the father. But the son is in love with a homicidal waitress who's a crackshot with a rifle. And then there's the two dead grandfathers, on ice up in the attic so they won't disrupt the wedding. And then there's the band playing up in the tree. (Well, actually they're tied to the tree so they can't get away.) And then there's the wild escape and the tree running through the forest. (Yes, you did read that correctly.) And then there's the happy ending. Nobody walks in this movie! Everybody runs or jumps or dances. Lowlife characters. Absolute madness. Blacker than black comedy. Totally insane.
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spewky3 July 2004A lot of people like to get into arguments and debates as to what the greatest film is...its hard to ever reach such a conclusion- if it is even possible- given that there are as many films as there are people, and it would be impossible to see them all. But then there are films that we watch and we know we have been changed forever. These are the films that we usually call our "top 10" or "top 100" and usually most of us will agree on specific titles, concluding that a particular film is truly a "GREAT" film.
Black Cat White Cat is what I can call the Greatest film I have ever watched. It is of course quite a strong title to give a film, knowing such classics as Citizen Kane, The Godfather Part 1 and 2, I Am Cuba, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Seven Samurai or even Birth of a Nation have all at one time or another been given such a title by not just an individual...but by a panel of judges and critics from around the world. But there is something that this film has...a beauty, something absolutely magical and romantic...a fantasy that you only find in children's books, and yet it exists in this loud and clattered noisy film. How Emir Kustarica has done this is beyond my understanding. I first discovered Kustarica's films while living in England when one night I turned to ITV on a Thursday night and began watching The Time Of The Gypsies. I remember my mom really complained because it was 2am when the film started and we were going to Kent early the next morning but I told her I would go to sleep soon. Needless to say, the film was almost 3 hours long.. but it did prove to be a favorite of mine for a very long time...until I watched 2001 A Space Odyssey. So I battled in my mind...why do I enjoy these films more than the films others enjoy such as the Godfather? Why is my taste so different? I guess, different people enjoy different things, but we can all conclude a good smell, and evil and wicked mind...a soft breeze. What we cannot seem to agree on, is when a good film touches our hearts. The events that place in Black Cat White Cat are ridiculous and sometimes unreal. There is a scene where a band are playing while suspended on a tree...there is a dwarf girl whose single wish is to meet a tall dark handsome man, there is an arranged marriage, a dead grandfather...but what does it all mean or lead to? There are situations that are unbelievable and dreamlike, yet they are told in a very honest and sincere way that you believe them...unlike the films of David Lynch where you see something and its so mesmorizing you wonder.. "is that even possible?". This film however dazzles you with the thought of "what you just saw is real..because you just saw it". Its difficult to explain, but what you see in this film is a haunting, true, ridiculous and romantic situation that is beyond logic and yet so true to human nature. So is this my favorite film? I don't know. This film feels like part of my body. How am I supposed to say what is my favorite body part? How am I to choose my limbs over my heart? What I got out of this film is something I cannot even understand. I feel in love with film all over again. Maybe that was Mr. Kustarica's goal...to show us a romantic episode and hope it helps us reflect our own cluttered life. Or maybe he simply wanted to show a lifestyle of gypsies in Yugoslavia. I really don't mind not understanding the reason for his making this film because I like my confusion. I don't really care to know or not know, because I have concluded, that this is the greatest motion picture of our time. -
3p20 July 2000First warning. This movies *does not* reveal "some deep mystery of life", like you might expect from Kusturica. It's pure (and beautifully filmed) comedy that delivers what most other comedies promise.
Second warning. This move does make "politically uncorrect" jokes, however it does not do it for the sake of attracting an audience that's proud of "understanding" and tolerating such jokes. Comparison with "There's Something About Mary" comes to my mind - with one huge difference: "Crna macka, beli macor" works! Anyway, this is not the major point of this movie.
Third warning. Most of humor in this movie is situation comedy type. If you liked Oliver Hardy swallowing nails you will laugh to a fat lady pulling them out of wood with her buttock and vice versa. Two friends I saw this movie with were not amused at all!
Besides the comedy part, it is a typical Kusturica movie. Geese running everywhere, special air-condition face cooling system type inventions etcetera. Everything you love. Plus one sparkling and one plain funny and sweet love story. -
gbeverig24 June 2007Not the Director's best, in terms of gravitas, but it is not supposed to be. (refer Time of the Gypsies, Underground et al) It's a rollicking farce cutting swathes through celluloid in his own inimitable style and flare. The visuals are outstanding, direction masterful, acting great, soundtrack superb. It is a true cinematic artist letting rip like a child in a candy shop. The closest we have ever got to Fellini again, although Kustirica is clearly his own man. The Coen brothers are perhaps one of his few contemporaries.
With this film he returns to his one true love: the gypsies of the Balkans, Serbia to be precise, and portrays that culture through his own romantic, humanistic, and gloriously grotesque imagination. It also encapsulates the essence of Balkan humour, evident throughout his films and also to be found in the Vox Pops 'Sarajevo diaries' made by real people trapped in Sarajevo when it was under siege during the war: irreverent, slapstick, poetic, ironic, erotic and more than anything full of the vitality of life -traits he finds most concentrated in gypsy culture. -
lmagyari4 February 2006if couldn't visit Yugoslavia in the mid 90s (or you just didn't want to: you aren't to blame, it was on war with the rest of the Balkans) watch this excellent movie which tells you about those people's life with more than a pinch of irony and original gypsy music. However, this isn't a gypsy or a gangster movie. It tells tales of those people who happened to live in such a curious country which almost became part of the Western World before a mad dictator made it slump back in the dark. All in all, one of the best movies I've ever seen and I highly recommend it to everyone who's eager read between the lines. It's really something different.
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SnoopyStyle9 August 2015Matko Destanov is a petty hustler living with his son Zare in a riverside shack home in eastern Serbia. He gets double-crossed in a scheme with Dadan and gets into debt to him. Dadan offers a clean slate if Zare marries Dadan's midget sister Afrodita. However neither Zare nor Afrodita like the arranged marriage. Zare is in love with barmaid Ida.
It's a wild crazy world reminiscent of Fellini. I do find the story rambling but the movie is full of wild eastern European absurdities. It has a certain ridiculous fun imaginative qualities. It often feels chaotic like a train running off the tracks. I really wish the imagery and ideas can be harnessed in a more controlled story. -
braindead20 December 1999With his latest movie "Crna macka, beli macor" (Black Cat, White Cat) Kusturica proves us once again that he's a great director. Well it may not be his masterpiece but it's still a really good film. If you are among those, who love Kusturica's crazy type of film-making then you will be satisfied for sure. The film is full of interesting and very eccentric characters, loud music (not Bregovic, but still good. especially the dance remix of "pit bull"), surreal and absurd images, etc. Especially the scene, where a fat woman (she resembles Divine in a way) pulls out a nail from a board with her a**, is unforgettable. I guess Kusturica will never be able to top his masterpiece "Dom za vesanje" (Time of the Gypsies), but still I'm very happy that he changed his mind and started directing movies again.
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OK, I'm a Serbian and many of my fellow countrymen do NOT like this film, and we're wondering how on Earth is possible that everyone out of our country loved it and why it has such following. The answer could be this: people from rest of the Europe like to watch "crazy" Balkan lifestyle and stupid grimaces that the characters in this movie make. Besides this, I think Kusturica's early movies, which were great, made him creditable to make stupidities he really likes (this one and every later movie). Balkan is really unique corner of the world, but the humour used in Kusturica's movie hardly aims for intelligent people. But the main damage that "Black cat" did to Serbian cinema is overshadowing some really good pieces of cinematography that were made in this country: Special Education, Reflections, National Class, Who's Singing Over There?, Tito and Me, The Ballad of a Cruel One, The Balkan Spy, It Happened on This Very Day, Backbone, The Promising Boy, Magic Sword, Marathon Family, The Fall of Rock'n'Roll, Oktoberfest, There Are No Small Gods, Taiwan Canasta, and many others you've never heard of.