Filipe Manuel Neto
**A black comedy made for a restricted audience.**
The film follows much of Yugoslav history, from its occupation by the Germans during World War II to its dismemberment. This is done through a small handful of characters: Marko and Blacky are friends, but follow different life paths: one becomes a kind of boss of the Communist Party, the other the head of a clandestine arms factory, which helps the another to get rich
Directed by Emir Kusturica, it's a rather surreal and hard-to-understand film that feels like it was made for a niche audience that I don't belong to. There is something deeply cynical about all this, especially if we consider the critical way in which the director thought of the film: it is a film that does not bother to explain historical events, presumes that we already know them, and works on them in order to criticize the way we look at war heroes.
I honestly prefer not to talk too much about the cast because I don't know any of those involved. Anyway, I feel they did a pretty satisfying job, considering the film it is and what the director wanted to do. The script has a lot of black humor, sometimes of debatable taste, and there are a number of issues that, if we think about it, make us question the plausibility of the script. For example, how is it possible for a group of people to stay hidden underground for so long without knowing what is going on in the world around them. It does not make sense.
Technically, the film has excellent sets and a very well achieved cinematography. The editing is, however, a little poorly done as the film fails to maintain a regular pace, with several scenes too long. But what tired and irritated me the most was the strident soundtrack, dominated by a brass band and songs, with an adequate Slavic sound, but exaggeratedly strong and flashy.
