Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

A Masterpiece!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I'm a big fan of Kusturica's work. He his one of the smartest and unexpected filmmakers ever. Of course you have to understand, enjoy and "get in to" his way of telling a story: all the over the top visuals, the kitsch environment and characters, the unusual soundtracks, the "controlled bad taste"; the subtle, amazing details and twists. That is Kusturica! And Black Cat White Cat delivers like no other. The PitBull Terrier song inside the limousine, the nail in the board scene, the toilet paper/goose climax are just outstanding, clever and ingenious ... Kusturica's at his best. Character development ans plot are excellent, delivering balance inside all the madness and bizarre ( a pig eating an Volkswagen Beatle throughout the film is priceless ), always maintaining pace and plot coherence. This is not easy to achieve and Kusturica is the master in pulling it of, using nothing but skill, art, irony, intelligence and... music. Music sets the pace of the film, delivers ups and downs with nothing but chord changes... music is so important in Black Cat White Cat. Please watch this movie. But watch it with an open mind and a joyful heart. If you do so, you are in for a ride of a lifetime!

It was a weird comedy, one of those rare kind. You won't like it from its very beginning. It took me for nearly 30 minutes to understand the characters and storyline. After that it was non stop adventurous fun ride especially wedding ceremony scenes were extremely amusing. Each character was funny and very unique which made the movie very special. I liked the total scenario, I mean the culture and all as in a movie which generated laughs in us.It was a beautiful romance tale with a backdrop of gangster theme. Actually there were two gangsters in the story, where a father and a son and his love lady are stuck and struggle in between them. When a new business fails, the father is in the position with one option left to solve where his son must take the hand of the sister of money lender. In other hand the son is in love with another girl. The money lender's sister is also forced to do so yet to find her perfect man. When all these characters meet at once in the wedding ceremony, the twist and turn in the story occur and who are all getting benefit of it is the remaining.It is unbelievable that I almost gave a high rating to this movie. You know I was not in favour of it when I began to watch after the so average opening sequences. While progressing the story it emerged as a finest comedy, in fact one of the finest comedy ever produced. For every scene after a scene it began to surprise me in every possible way. It was only moving harder and deeper reaching the core of the audience's laughing sense to tickle. I might be overwhelmed, it may not bring LOL at you because it was a dark humorous flick so definitely it will bring a large smile on your face throughout.There was a fat pig often showed in the movie which was eating some old car's skin. I don't know what it's for and where it fits in the story but it was very much enjoyable for the moment. Like that there were many huge humorous scenes it had. Musics and dances were another advantage of the movie. For the last 90 minutes I almost forgot myself. I have been among those characters and enjoyed every second of my stay. I can highly recommend it to you but I don't know whether it is your kind stuff. Certainly I assure majority of you would love the movie and you may consider one of your all time favourite comedy ever.

Not 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.

It's one of those films where just about every second provides something of entertainment, particularly something with a degree of light or dark humour. I laughed my head off when all those different things took place during the wedding, especially with the toilet-tumble later in the film; plus every time the focus switched to animal life, you could see a certain pig eating a Trabant!!!! That's a car with a body made almost entirely of cardboard, and a pig doesn't care what it eats. Just make it chewable.The Kusturica-Bregovic duo is spot-on for a person who has a taste of either films, music or both.10 out of 10. Magnificent.