Underground

A black comedy made for a restricted audience.

The film follows much of Yugoslav history, from its occupation by the Germans during World War II to its dismemberment. This is done through a small handful of characters: Marko and Blacky are friends, but follow different life paths: one becomes a kind of boss of the Communist Party, the other the head of a clandestine arms factory, which helps the another to get rich

Directed by Emir Kusturica, it's a rather surreal and hard-to-understand film that feels like it was made for a niche audience that I don't belong to. There is something deeply cynical about all this, especially if we consider the critical way in which the director thought of the film: it is a film that does not bother ...

Though this is a bit hit and miss, and I do wonder just how many editions of the BBC's "'Allo 'Allo" director Emir Kustrica had watched, this is still quite an entertaining look at the evolution of Yugoslavia from it's wartime Chetnik phase through until the dismantling of the country following the death of Tito. It's split into three distinct parts, and the start reminded me a little of the beginning of "Hannibal Brooks" (1969) with a zoo getting bombed and keeper "Ivan" (Slavko Stimac) rescuing one of his charges - a chimp this time, not an elephant. What now ensues follows how he, his brother "Marko" (Pedrag Manojlovic) and his best pal "Blacky" (Lazar Ristovski) as they try to keep their families safe during the Naxi onslaught whilst, a...