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Underground movie comments

Date: 2007-10-04 11:49:37 User: James Shields Many years ago I hitchhiked through Yugoslavia and found a diverse, down to earth people living in harmony. Many years later, after economic decline and the breakup of the Soviet Union, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence and signaled the end of the country of Yugoslavia. Emir Kusturica's Underground is a bold recreation of the events that led to the breakup, spanning the years of the Nazi invasion of World War II to the present wars. The film has been called Serbian propaganda, self-indulgent, an anti-Communist tract, an anti-war tome, cynical, nihilistic, and it may be any or all of those, but primarily it is a work of art whose surreal vision and poetic language makes any search for a coherent message elusive. Underground traces the lives of Marco (Miki Manojlovic) and Blacky (Lazar Ristovski), two charming but immoral black market profiteers who fight the Nazis while hiding in a massive cellar with friends and family where they produce and sell munitions. Marko and Blacky both compete for the attention of actress Natalija (Mirjana Jokovic) after Blacky's wife Vera (Mirjana Karanovic) dies in childbirth, but Natalija plays both of them off against the German soldier Franz ((Ernst Stotzner). After the war, perhaps as a metaphor for the constricting rule of President Tito, Marko fails to inform the underground community that the war has ended, keeping everyone in the dark so that he can support the Communist regime and make a profit selling arms to middlemen. Natalija helps Marco keep up the charade when he makes Blacky into a venerated national hero even though he is still alive. The only innocent characters in the film are Marco's slow-witted brother Ivan (Slavko Stimac) and his pet monkey Sino who form a lifelong bond after German bombs destroy the zoo where he was working. It is only when Sino crawls into the barrel of a tank and fires its guns do the inhabitants of the cellar work their way toward freedom and, in the process of discovery, react like space travelers finding a new world. The new world, however, looks very much like the old and when brother turns against brother, the disintegration of Yugoslavia is complete. Underground is an exuberantly entertaining three-hour carnival filled with wild characters, singing, drinking, and fighting and a brass band that keeps the energy high with Gypsy melodies. While it is a broad comedy that often descends into borderline lunacy, it is also a tragic vision of the betrayal of a people. Its final Felliniesque image of all the characters reunited on a piece of land drifting into the sea tells more than the obvious metaphor of a broken land and a broken people. It is a testament to the endurance, the acceptance of life, and the commitment to joy of the Yugoslav people and a passionate cry for their regeneration. Date: 2007-10-04 11:49:47 User: James Shields The scene when after all the pain and suffering the stuttering younger brother finally finds his old ape friend is the most poignant scene in all movie history. I am fully aware that that statement might be interpreted as national bias, but it isn't. What can be said about this movie that hasn't been said already? That a young upstart Balkan nation gambled away the only chance it ever had after WWI of creating a peaceful, stable, safe and prosperous state, opting instead for a "Yugoslavia". That cowards and opportunists always ruled the show over decent people. That these decent people were always great heroes when it came time to fight the enemies from without, but legendary cowards and naive sheep when it came time to fight the enemy within own ranks. That a bunch of criminals ruled a communist Yugoslavia for 45 years, keeping everyone in he dark as to what was actually happening in the world. That when the cat finally came out of the bag, the people in the basement proved catastrophically inept at handling the new situation and that that only leads to more pain and suffering. And all of it, the pain, the humiliation, the bitterness, comes down to, boils into, condenses itself into that one scene where the two old friends meet. And one young lad at that time lacking the luxury of living in a normal country opened his floodgates. There is so much to take in while watching the movie. It is nothing short of a complete history of a deceased nation of brotherhood and unity, all of it told in an allegorical style. All of which I have described in the previous chapter. The music and visual style of the movie is breathtaking. There is not a second of the movie that is not entertaining or engaging. Not a second that is not significant or out of place. And the movie is full of life, for whatever happens, life goes on. With every pain there is joy and vice versa. But this life is decidedly underscored by the forces of death and evil. The full extent of betrayal becomes apparent towards the end, initially being painted with naive humor. In this betrayal an entire country ad an entire people were sacrificed. The only thing that is left is memory. Memory of those one has lost during the dark years of Nazi invasion, the dark years of communism and the dark years of the recent wars. Memory of a past time, with its own rules, characters and experiences. One which humanity must never forget. Rating 10/10 Scale: 10 MASTERPIECE, 9 Excellent, 8 Good, 7 OK, 6 Adequate, 5 Average, 4 Mediocre, 3 Poor, 2 Bad, 1 HORRIBLE Date: 2007-10-04 11:49:58 User: James Shields For anyone interested in Kusturica's work, this is my favorite. Don't get discouraged because it's set someplace you never traveled before... People are all alike. You'll recognize the patterns easily. It tells a story how come a country which appeared to everyone inside as an uniquely ideal world (they aren't aware where they are) could abruptly dissolve in a really, really bloody war the moment that the outside interferes... And more then that: it lets you LIVE AND LEARN through this experience yourself! It tells what time heals, or can't heal. It tells a lot about people, and about powers of mass deception, and examines personal issues arising from such a condition. It talks about a different set of values, which can be understood only in a specific situation. It makes you understand the Balkans as well as any other region held together by a weird, claustrophobic mix of hundreds of years of love and war on a small piece of land, a thread so fragile that it would break if love gets any more removed from war then it ever was. The sense of time in this movie is marvelously directed, and the reason it starts as an action flick but then at one point starts to drag towards the end is... because there is always, always a slowdown just before the next big boom/collapse; don't fight this feeling or you'll miss on the experience. It is like the Truman Show without the Hollywood ending. The movie is based on a play from Serbian master playwright, Dusan Kovacevic. Anything based on his plays is well worth the watching. Date: 2007-10-04 11:50:09 User: James Shields I saw this one just before our Victory Day, with the original soundtrack and Russian subtitles. Good time I had. The quality of the DVD release we have here is very enjoyable. Even on a LCD the things are looking distinct, though the movie is rather dark. Tragedy and comedy are linked together in a furious mixture accompanied by loud memorable music and songs. The surreal situations make this film a parable. In my humble opinion, it is the finest achievement of Mr Emir Kusturica. The movie has such an irresistible Slavic feel to it, that only a very limited number of viewers seem to be able to appreciate its charm. Not to everybody's liking. It's no "Matrix", no "Godfather", no "Pulp Fiction" and it's no "Fellowship of the Ring" or "Star Wars". "Underground" stares at humanity with a grin. A mirror where we all can see the reflection of our past, present, and future. We know what a war is, but we cannot stop. It's a story without end. Three hours flew by in a blur. Some scenes have become classic for me: a monkey in a tank, the heroes with guns in a boat with the orange sunshine upon their faces, underwater characters, theatrical play with some crazy outspoken expressions and jests, the head-butted UN soldier (who started some brainwashing conversation and got served), the running Petar "Crni" with a rifle shooting at a UN (?) helicopter, the "flying" bride, the final gathering (which takes place in some meta-world, like the final scene in our "Solyaris"). I totally agree with the words on the DVD box: it is a funny movie, which is at the same time very horrific. 10 out of 10. Thank you for attention. Date: 2007-10-04 11:50:17 User: James Shields Undoubtedly it's really hard to write about such unusual film as Underground. In my opinion it is almost defies to description. Probably I will always be lost of admiration for it. I have seen many very good films, but only few of them put a spell on me. Frankly, this is the only film, which makes me cry. It's extremely moving and it seems to be quite inaccessible. As a matter of fact, this is the most pessimistic film I've ever seen, although some scenes makes me laugh. Underground is full of symbols and metaphors, some of them are very unclear and ambiguous. Specific atmosphere and sometimes metaphysical or surreal visions make this film so uncommon. Climate of Underground is also made up by beautiful music. Moreover it show us colourful and very romantic local culture. However all these elements are only the background for not so optimistic and rather dismal massage. Through this tangle of expressive images we can see tragic and tumultuous history of Yugoslavia. I think it's some kind of nonsense, that such wonderful film was made under the influence of tragic events, like wars and communism. This film helps to understand, which values are truly important, it show as cruel world, where nobody is really happy. All people suffer, but only several of them are guilty. I find Underground brilliant, but I perceive it like someone, whose country suffered from World Wars and totalitarianism. Maybe that's why this films made such huge impression on me. Everyone should watch it, even though it could be hard to understand for a first time. Date: 2007-10-04 11:50:29 User: James Shields This film is certainly the most entertaining film yet, the story just gets better and better - unraveling every layer possible in the most intriguing way. The characters contain the greatest warmth and humanity in the most comedic sense. The use of music is incredible, given that it came out the same year as the dogma 95 manifesto - it certainly must have inspired the Dane's to only use music that exists on location. There are plenty of metaphors and the build ups are so perfect that the direction of the tale is never obvious. Anyone who has anything negative to say about this film should be tied up and executed as they have no understanding nor any profound respect for true and pure cinema. For ever in gratitude to the writer, director, cast and crew! -Nicholas   You have to register to leave a comment...   Back to the Underground movie download page