Starring Bajram Severdzan, Srdan Todorovic and Florijan Ajdini
Screenplay by Emir Kusturica and Gordan Mihic
Directed by Emir Kusturica
Running time 124 minutes
France/Germany/FR Yugoslavia 1999
Our last movie The Philadelphia Story was a madcap comedy that took place in the run up to a society wedding. Our next film Black Cat, White Cat also has a marriage ceremony at its heart but could not be more different in culture or character. Emir Kusturica’s riotous mix of farce, crime and romance is set among a gypsy community on the banks of the Danube and mixes family ties, magic and double dealing as a black marketeer tries to marry off his hapless son to the diminutive sister of a powerful gangster. The action is driven by the irresistible Gypsy music of Kusturica’s band The No Smoking Orchestra.
The director is a remarkable and fascinating artist - he has twice won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his filmsWhen Father Was Away On Business andUnderground. He built an actual village - Drvengrad - for his 2004 movie Life Is A Miracle in 2004 - where now lives and holds an annual private film festival. He is also no stranger to controversy - Underground was accused by several sources of being pro-Serbian propaganda. These remarks caused Kusturica to announce his retirement from filmmaking in the 90s - although he returned triumphantly a couple of years later withWhite Cat, Black Cat.
‘It's as though Four Weddings And A Funeral had been reimagined by Fellini with a cast of crazy Balkan rogues and a background chorus of farmyard animals.'
