Underground details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Miki Manojlovic, Mirjana Jokovic, Lazar Ristovski |
| Director: | Emir Kusturica |
| Genres: | Drama - General, World Cinema - Spanish |
| Studio: | FUSION MEDIA |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Underground |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours 45 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 23 Oct 2006 |
| Main languages: | Serbo-Croatian, French, German |
| Subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
a modern classic?
By PeterSays (108 reviews) from Romsey , 31 Oct 2006[Highly rated reviewer]
I was very intrigued what I would make of this film, considering the contrasting views of other reviewers: was it five-star wonderful or a no-star disaster? To start with, it’s not ‘easy viewing’ with subtitles, unfamiliar cultural references, loads of things taking place on screen and two leading characters who looked so similar, at first I found it difficult to tell them apart. This added to the confusion in a film which was portraying the confused events of a turbulent history. It may say more about my attention span than the film, but I found it better to take a couple of breaks from the film, as it is so intense. So what kept me watching and what makes this a good – no, brilliant – film? Number one – the images. The director has produced tableaux which are visually stunning and are on a par with the best of European cinema: “I didn’t think they made films like this anymore”. Second, the story of Yugoslavia, a country forged in the insanity of the Second World War and destroyed in the insanity of the Balkan Wars at the end of the twentieth century. Between, Tito treated the population like mushrooms (kept in the dark and fed on sh*t), making them hide underground from imaginary enemies (hence the name of the film). In existence for about fifty years, the director sees the People’s Republic of Yugoslavia as a crazy invention of history, now remembered just as a weird dream: “We’re all mad, it’s just not all of us have been certified yet”, as one of the characters says. The film's surreal, dream-like quality is very successful: the manic village band’s accompaniment, death represented as underwater swimming, the insane roundabout of burning bodies, etc. etc. This is a film that requires effort to watch but it’s worth it. In time, 'Underground' could become a classic of European cinema.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(71)Kusturica's decline continues
By Petergrafton (9 reviews) from Dawlish , 27 Dec 2012'Underground' heaves and writhes with allegory, political observation, etc, etc, and Kusturica directs like Fellini on speed. But the film can be summed as a bad party, brains and morality stewed on plum brandy, a party that is best left after 45 minutes. His earlier 'When Father Was Away on Business' is a superb film. Since then, it's a been a Balkan knees-up alcohol fuelled downward spiral for Kusturica.- Was this review helpful to you?
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And now for something completely different!
By BarnesleyBill (15 reviews) from East Yorkshire , 21 May 2012This is the 2nd Kusturika film I've seen and they are certainly different! It is a (very) black comedy that tracks the development and disintegration of Yugoslavia from WW2 to the mid nineties. There are a wealth of memorable characters but the principals are two partners in crime and in post war Yugoslav politics, together with their their shared girlfriend. The film very comically places these characters into original news footage as they climb Tito's communist hierarchy. It is a long film and hard work to watch in one sitting. Some knowledge of recent Yugoslav history is helpful.
However, for all the complexity, if you are fed up with tinsel-town pap, you might like this but be warned...it is a high energy, noisy, manic orgy of violence, drink-fuelled partying, crime, disorder and war. This is all played out to the soundtrack of an ever-present Balkan brass ensemble. It has a highly implausible plot,heavy symbolism, many surreal elements and fantasy sequences. It is laugh-out-loud hilarious in parts but these comic highlights are separated by long periods of sometimes tiresome Balkan mania that makes you want to lie down in a dark room with a damp towel over your face.
It is a film that will divide opinion, as indeed its director does. Kusturika is very much a child of Yugoslavia. Born into a secular Bosnian Muslim family in Sarajevo, he has recently converted to Orthodox Christianity claiming that his family's 250 year dalliance with Islam was a pragmatic response to living under the Ottoman Empire and that he is reverting to his true self. He has been criticised for being an apologist for the Serbian role in the war and breakup of Yugoslavia. This provides part of the 'black' background to this challenging and occasionally highly entertaining Black Comedy.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Waste of celluloid
By a customer , 24 Mar 2012Don't watch this silly, childish Balkan nonsense, unless you want to waste a couple of hours of your life.
I was completely puzzled as to why it won the Palm D'or award at the Cannes film festival back in '95.
The primitive script must have been written by a 10 year-old, and directed by a 12 year-old in a grown man's body (Kusturica).
You can't take the characters or anything that happens seriously. The story line is very shallow and surreal and so are the characters who are poorly acted. I was thinking, maybe it meant to be a (dark) comedy but no...there was no humour or anything remotely funny in it.
It reminded me of the Tom and Jerry cartoons where the characters do seriously violent, potentially damaging and harmful things to each other, yet miraculously it never has any long-lasting or serious consequences on them, and they live happily ever after.....except that Tom& Jerry can be funny, and there is much more thought and detailed work put into it.
And Kusturica's half-hearted, slapdash attempt to portray Yugoslavia before, during and after the Tito years is a failure.
Too long, boring beyond belief and utterly rubbish. Thumbs down.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Rubbish
By a customer from Nottingham, England , 03 Mar 2012utter rubbish, the worst kind of bad stereotypical non-sensical eastern european nonsense you could ever imagine, it was like watching a bad gogol bordello video stretched out for 90 mins or so - still better than that pathetic Coen Brothers remake of True Grit though...- Was this review helpful to you?
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A modern classic maybe - but unbelievably hard work
By a customer , 15 Jan 2012This may be a modern classic and I so wanted it to deliver. I love world cinema and have no problem with subtitles but, despite its occaional moments and strong performances, this was just very hard work by most prople's standards I feel and at almost 3 hrs running time way too long for something so hit and miss - it genuinely felt like an endurance test and I was glad to have made it to the end, albeit in 3 sittings!- Was this review helpful to you?
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