Institute History
Description
This colorful, fast, and farcical comedy of Gypsy life on the Danube develops a wide cast of larger-than-life characters, built around two octagenarian friends and feuding rivals, Grga and Zarije, and their families. One is boss of the garbage dumps, the other is boss of the cement factories, but both have problems with their offspring. Zarije’sgood-for-nothing son Matko plans a train heist that will finally bring him respect and wealth but is forced to ask help from Grga. He loses all in a double-cross by his partner, the manic, coke-snorting “businessman/patriot” Dadan, who demands that he pay the debt by marrying off his son Zare to Dadan’s headstrong sister, Afrodita. Complicating the plot further, the innocent Zare has fallen for comely barmaid Ida, who soon initiates him into the mysteries of love.
Frenetically paced and hilariously funny, Black Cat, White Cat builds to its uproarious climax, the arranged wedding of Zare and Afrodita, through a slapstick sequence of wild chases, exuberant parties, fake deaths, skullduggery, double-crosses, mishaps, and pratfalls. Its cinematography, as rich as the action, includes Felliniesque scenes of pigs eating cars and the obligatory flocks of geese. The rousing sound track of Gypsy music adds to the folklore and fun. Actor Srdan Todorovic as the wild Dadan returns from director Emir Kusturica’s earlier somber work, Underground, accompanied by an excellent cast, including many Gypsy non-professionals, who display an uncanny family resembance. A ribald, buoyant comedy, Black Cat, White Cat will lift your spirits and leave you dancing.
Emir Kusturica, Director
Emir Kusturica was born in
Sarajevo in 1954 and studied at the Famu Film Academy in Prague. His first feature film, Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, won the Golden Lion at the 1981 Venice Film Festival. Kusturica has won the Palme d’Or at Cannes twice: the first time for When Father Was Away on Business in 1985, and again in 1992 with Underground. When Father Was Away on Business was also nominated for an Academy Award as best foreign film.