Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

Black Cat, White Cat is a very stylized and almost cartoonish movie that focuses on the more colorful and "eccentric" aspects of Romani culture and uses it as the backdrop for an action comedy. The film utilizes an incredible and over the top style that's reminiscent of Terry Gilliam. The action is quick and fun. The comedy is sharp and dynamic. All the subplots converge and provide a satisfying ending. It's a brilliant movie.This is one of very few movies that focuses on Roma culture and it's one of the most popular among the actual Roma community. That's probably because it doesn't dwell on the ethnic aspects of the characters. They have their own personalities. The use of stereotypes in the movie are fairly minor and doesn't act as a detriment to the overall quality of the film. The fact that Matko is a conman isn't portrayed as being connected to being Roma, likewise Grga was portrayed as a gangster who happened to come from a Roma background. It doesn't really imply that the two characteristics are related. There are also Roma characters in the film that don't fall into theses stereotypes, such as Ida and her mother, so it doesn't paint Roma culture in a negative light by making these characters crooks. If anything the characters they chose to make criminals show that the stereotypes are based on old fashioned ideas that are now outdated. This is displayed in how different generations of characters act. Grga is the oldest Gypsy character and the most over the top. He is a powerful mob boss and surround himself with a lot of very ornate and gaudy things, such as his golden sunglasses or a bed that rocks like a cradle. Matko is from the next generation, and he is a small time crook with slightly unusual clothes (like a weird hat) but less so than Grga. By the time we get to Zare and Ida, the youngest characters and the movies main protagonists, there aren't any characteristics or features that expressly label him as Roma. He would be considered a very plain character by most standards. They're just normal people. Again, while the more overtly Roma characters in are also show to be more criminally inclined, the film doesn't credit that to their cultural heritage. Regardless of whether or not this was the filmmaker's intent, it paints the all the different stereotypes as a silly thing from the past, with little relevance to the modern day.Black Cat, White Cat is much more focused on telling a fun story that takes the characters on an interesting adventure than it is showing an accurate depiction of Roma Culture, and it's a better film because of it.

There is one thing when you watch a film, and you have subtitles or you understand the language. But what would you do if you don't have any subtitles or you don't understand a word of what they are talking about in that film ? I guess you will probably stop watching it. Well for me… it didn't happen with this one. That's how I realized how good a film can be. I just couldn't stop watching it. It has a great story, amazing characters, beautifully filmed and sets… and of course… great music that fits perfectly. You must watch it… you won't regret. It's a good inspiration for the young filmmakers, especially if you never attended a film school, you can learn loots from this one. So simple, but at the same time… so much. I just love the European style of filmmaking. I guess films like this one made me want to make my own films.

Not the Director's best, in terms of gravitas, but it is not supposed to be. (refer Time of the Gypsies, Underground et al) It's a rollicking farce cutting swathes through celluloid in his own inimitable style and flare. The visuals are outstanding, direction masterful, acting great, soundtrack superb. It is a true cinematic artist letting rip like a child in a candy shop. The closest we have ever got to Fellini again, although Kustirica is clearly his own man. The Coen brothers are perhaps one of his few contemporaries.With this film he returns to his one true love: the gypsies of the Balkans, Serbia to be precise, and portrays that culture through his own romantic, humanistic, and gloriously grotesque imagination. It also encapsulates the essence of Balkan humour, evident throughout his films and also to be found in the Vox Pops 'Sarajevo diaries' made by real people trapped in Sarajevo when it was under siege during the war: irreverent, slapstick, poetic, ironic, erotic and more than anything full of the vitality of life -traits he finds most concentrated in gypsy culture.

It's one of those films where just about every second provides something of entertainment, particularly something with a degree of light or dark humour. I laughed my head off when all those different things took place during the wedding, especially with the toilet-tumble later in the film; plus every time the focus switched to animal life, you could see a certain pig eating a Trabant!!!! That's a car with a body made almost entirely of cardboard, and a pig doesn't care what it eats. Just make it chewable.The Kusturica-Bregovic duo is spot-on for a person who has a taste of either films, music or both.10 out of 10. Magnificent.