Underground (1995)

Purely Joyful Movie!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's always difficult viewing a foreign film without knowing the country's history and politics, so for a Western audience that includes myself, I don't know if the film carries much resonance. What I did surmise with "Underground" was that it was a surreal blend of historical drama, war time chaos, caustic humor and ribald farce. The central idea seems to be director Emir Kusturica's blunt representation of political chicanery that fools an entire society, along with the corruption that allows certain individuals to thrive at the expense of others. One must suspend enormous amounts of disbelief to accept that a nation secludes itself 'underground' for decades believing a war is still raging on. I found the film to be filled with absurdist dark humor, though for my taste, it often seemed directionless and meandering. My viewing was of the one hundred seventy minute theatrical version, and shudder to imagine what the director's cut of five plus hours would have required in the name of patience and fortitude.

Both a tragedy and a comedy this movie is a must see for everyone who likes this genre. I've seen it a dozen times and it still makes me laugh out loud. The casting is really well done. The plot turn is surprising. And the gypsy style music of Goran Bregovic is lifting the movie to a higher level. After seeing this movie I became a big fan of his complete oeuvre as well as of the music by Goran Bregovic. I play it all the time, and it's perfect music for weddings and funerals (as one of his album is called).

The story follows an underground weapons manufacturer in Belgrade during WWII and evolves into fairly surreal situations. A black marketeer who smuggles the weapons to partisans doesn't mention to the workers that the war is over, and they keep producing. Years later, they break out of their underground "shelter" --- only to convince themselves that the war is still going on.I know very little about Yugoslavian film, or Serbian film or any other film industry of the region. But this is some great satire here, with the sensibility of Luis Bunuel or those fine folks who made "Delicatessen" and "Amelie" (drawing a blank on their names, sorry). Who knew that war could be funny? This is the sort of war comedy that "Life is Beautiful" could only dream of being.

I thoroughly enjoyed parts of this film. It has moments of pure brilliance and hilarity; however, I'm afraid it's a movie that has great scenes but doesn't really work as a whole. There's a great deal of spirit and ambition in this film, but it just lags a lot in scenes, and the longer you watch it, the more it starts to lose focus, and much of the humor that made it so enjoyable towards the beginning. I did enjoy its unstructured plot, but interest level starts to wane after about the 2 hour mark. This one definitely could have used some cutting; however, this film does take place underground, and the visuals, the music and the setting make for a great atmosphere and a plot that is always unpredictable and filled with adventure, and fun; however, if you want to watch a Kusturica film, I'd go with his other one I've seen: Arizona Dream. It's equally bizarre but it has a much more engaging and interesting story.