Strawberry in the Supermarket (2003)

People are voting emotionally.

From my favorite movies..

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

It's as clear as the large hole in Sean Penn's head what this dumb comedy is really about and what kind of people are responsible for this immoral, unfunny, badly written farce. For viewers so apolitical that they couldn't even detect this kind of in-your-face political propaganda, an explanation follows.This anti-western/anti-capitalist/anti-globalist/anti-democratic (i.e. communist/fascist) nonsense was produced by Emir Kusturica, a highly-respected charlatan director of "arty" Euro-trash (i.e. overrated, festival-darling surrealist malarkey), but less known for being a communist-fascist (yes, I know it makes no sense, but that's his political "orientation"). In the West, he wears a Che Guevara shirt (because that's considered PC), but while at home in Serbia he assumes the role of the flag-waving ultra-nationalist (because that's popular there). So yes, he does get to have his cake and eat it too; although, in all fairness, communism and fascism are hardly very different from one another – you know, centralized authority, concentration camps, one-party system and all that other wonderful stuff. Kusturica supported the Milosevic regime and all of the ugly "little" Balkan wars which actually helped to destroy Serbia, which makes him the last person to moralize to anybody. For Emir, Hague tribunal war criminals are heroes, whereas the 5th October revolution is a despicable event. You might know the type; there are many of those like him in the Balkans. They are the ones who shout loudest but have the least education or common sense.That's why JUS features an ultra-fictitious (in spite of its pathetic satiric pretensions) and ultra unrealistic chain of American supermarkets which – in a most laughably B-movie manner - is supposed to symbolize the "decadence" of western commercialism (as if Emir himself doesn't get excited every time he purchases a BMW or rents a large yacht during a Southern European film festival). The movie even implies that Djindjic and DOS were marionettes of the U.S., which is such preposterous nonsense, the kind which only the most die-hard, brainwashed Serb Far-Right-wingers could possibly fall for. Not to mention the hypocrisy of Emir and his communist-fascist Balkan buddies being 100% marionettes of that other world power, Russia. If Putin ever needed any propaganda in the Balkans (and he doesn't), he'd need look no further than JUS.The "Serbia" shown here has little to do with the Serbia I know first-hand. (Unlike Emir, I am here almost constantly, whereas he spends a lot of his time in the cozy, "rotting" West.) This is some fictitious, fake, made-up Serbia that resembles some personal "Utopia" i.e. a vision of Serbia the way certain criminally insane minds fantasize about.This quasi-Serbia is just as absurd as that ridiculous chain of highly improbable supermarkets which is even stupidly advertised as "Yugo-American" (with stars and stripes!), only a few years after NATO bombardment of Serbia – which the vast majority of Serbs equate with American "aggression", as if no EU countries had anything to do with it. Equally absurd is Karanovic's over-the-top supermarket manager; so needlessly exaggerated that she speaks a kind of baffling English-Serbian that I've never heard before and which I'm sure has never been applied in reality. Is she supposed to be American? Half-American? What is she? This kind of dumb farcical shtick is used in "Police Academy" movies and other such crap. Nevertheless, the stamp of Emir's approval (as this turkey's producer) might lead the more clueless viewers to mistake this for "clever satire"; such is his clout in the film world. Sure, if the wittiest thing you'd ever seen was Mr. Bean, then anything in JUS might appear as brilliant social commentary. Does any Belgrade resident know any McDonalds bosses who are American? Which use English words in their daily vocabulary? What utter hogwash.Similarly idiotic is the fairy-tale depiction of the street mob. They gather around the embattled store and 100% of them root for the nationalist/terrorist moron/loser while booing against the cops who want to free hostages and restore order. "Dog Day Afternoon" almost looks like a documentary next to this. The mob behaves, chants and shouts just like the 2008 football hooligans who had stormed the U.S. embassy in Belgrade. Interestingly enough, Kusturica was present there as public speaker – egging on the bald-headed rabble toward violence and destruction of private and public property. Such a humanitarian.JUS is how Emir IMAGINES "ideal" Serbia, one in which the people are all retarded and look with nostalgia to going back to the hungry, war-torn 90s. Naturally, while the Balkans burned for nearly a decade, Emir had it nice in various Western hotels and Beverly Hills mansions, totally disinterested in the suffering of others. Emir's street rabble is a mirror image of himself: primitive, hateful, violent and confused. As if real Serbs don't fantasize about a better life like any other normal people, which implies a free market and social liberty – things Emir never cared for, because he'd always been too enchanted by Marx and "Das Kapital". He is a typical wannabe revolutionary (messy hair, "rebellious, that whole phony rock image) without understanding anything about the subject; or he simply ignores all those evils because that allows him to keep romanticizing its icons and flawed ideology.The script even manages to throw in anti-GM food propaganda. Suitably, Serbian Far Right groups had the same stance; in Belgrade one could find many posters attacking this allegedly "fake"/"poisonous" food, plastered by such extremist organizations.Even without all the political claptrap, JUS would have still been mediocre at best, because it uses cheesy gags (such as Todorovic slipping over and over and over) and vulgarities instead of actual wit. "Less is more" isn't a comedic concept this writer/director or his producer are aware of. Extremely moronic is Branka Katic falling in love – and so quickly – with Todorovic, who is about as sexy as my underwear after I'd wiped my nose with it. This romance lacks any credibility and is quite predictable hence cliché.

A great mix of satire, slapstick, cheesy romance and sentimentality, this movie uses an unlikely scenario to deal with themes such as westernisation, alienation in modern living, and romantic love.In all fairness, it doesn't really deal with any of them in any thorough way, but who cares? It's entertaining viewing. Its easy-going feel as a film is created by its low budget looking filming and sometimes acting, a feature that works as a plus, as the movie is not meant to be taken too seriously, though there are serious ideas in there. It's more a light hearted satire, for example, as the hostage situation gets underway, a small crowd gathers, soon growing into a large crowd with an uncanny similarity to a crowd of football (soccer) supporters. The makers use this crowd to represent the current popular opinion in Serbia, for example, when the police show up, they are boo-ed and insulted and called American backed puppets, the comedy element is added by the crowd chanting and clapping their insults as though at a game. Hard to explain, hilarious to watch.So in that sense, the movie is as much theatre as it is cinema, with no real attempt to be taken totally seriously. Overall a well rounded if not silly script, I'd recommend this film mostly on its story telling forte.

Good movie.Perfect way of introducing both funny sides of the anti Americanism, and parasitic American immigrant 'investors' in Novi Beograd (not very successful urban idea regarding that part of Belgrade)…resulting in the best possible resolution in the movie. After all political turmoil, the aftermath of free trade, and facelessness of Super-American-Market had to result in something very tragicomic. Fortunately, there's love…perfectly blended the way Kusturica would do. I love this move, and the music, and the entire selection of actors. I personally saw few of those supermarkets, and this movie is like satisfaction. Honestly, I had fun watching this movie. Branka Katic is awesome actress, and if nothing else…you will definitely fall in love watching her performance.

Reading the other comments on this film I have to say I might view this film differently if I understood the current socio-political climate in Serbia or the mindsets of the peoples living there. While it had definite moments of social commentary and a few political digs thrown in, I watched this movie primarily as a commentary on what people are willing to go through to fit in and to stand up for the people whom they love.These messages, and the style of the film, are really universal and accessible. It is easy to fall into this film and get caught up in the quirky, somewhat unlikely, and very endearing situations the characters find themselves in. While I can't address the political issues that previous reviewers mentioned, I'm really surprised that (in one review at least) the actors were criticized on their performances. There were no Shakespearian moments or performance of a lifetime here, but all the actors were brilliantly expressive and kept up a live-on-stage vibe the whole way through. The dialog was witty and well delivered; there's a great interaction between the crowd that gathers around the supermarket and the police who are trying to coax out the hostage-taker.So, just what is this film about (no spoilers): Jagoda works at a new American-style supermarket. She doesn't really like her job (we don't blame her). "Just then" a guy with a rifle busts into the supermarket and starts taking hostages. We don't know what's up with this guy, is he crazy? ex-special forces? suicidal? Or all of the above? The "tension" builds up as the police, and a large crowd, gather outside. The situation inside goes from depressing to manic and everything along the way. It's quite a ride towards the final, inevitable showdown, where every character has a hand in the outcome.This film is a quirky story that encourages you to laugh at the ridiculous situations life throws at you.