Showing posts with label Emir Kusturica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emir Kusturica. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT (1998)

"This is chaos!"

I love this movie. I've never had a desire to be an actual filmmaker, but BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT is pretty close to what I envision in my handsome brain.

Matko is a small-time swindler.  He lives in a large shack, with his teenage son, Zare, beside the Danube.  Matko is always coming up with (unsuccessful) ideas to make a quick buck.  His latest idea involves lying to a local mobster, Mr. Grga, to secure a loan to finance a train robbery.  He then involves another gangster, the psychotic Dadan (played by Srdjan Todorovic, in one of the funniest performances in movie history), to split the deal with him.  Unfortunately, Dadan double-crosses Matko and then demands repayment!  Being flat broke, Matko does the only thing he can do: agree to marry off Zare to Dadan's younger sister....but Zare has no plans on marrying Dadan's sister because he's in love with his girlfriend, Ida.

That's enough about the story. The real attraction here is the absolute insanity of this movie! It never lets up for a second. Right from the start, BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT blasts off like a rocket and it only get crazier as it goes! And yet, somehow, through all of the screaming and drug-fueled madness there is a sweet story of true love and family bonds.

I could talk much, much longer about WCBC (especially about Todorovic's absolutely brilliant performance or questioning why so many of the great actors involved with this film never appeared in anything else), but that would be unfair to anybody who hasn't seen the film.  Long story, short: BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT is an absolute masterpiece of storytelling and filmmaking, that deserves to be seen by anybody who loves Cinema.

Highly recommended.