Monday, January 26, 2009

Films I Love #16: Underground (Emir Kusturica, 1995)


Underground is Emir Kusturica's wildly ambitious, relentlessly energetic, tragicomic allegory for the history of his native Yugoslavia from the Nazi invasion of World War II up to the disintegration of the unified country in the bloodshed and genocide of the Balkan wars. It is primarily the story of two friends, Marko (Miki Manojlovic) and Blacky (Lazar Ristovski), who start out as black marketeers providing weapons to the anti-fascist resistance, even as they become embroiled in a love triangle over the actress Natalija (Mirjana Jokovic), who they both adore. The film's allegorical structure becomes readily apparent when the war ends, and Marko becomes a prominent figure in Yugoslavia's new Communist government, while keeping Blacky and many of their other friends hidden in an underground bunker, unaware that the war against Germany has ended. It's an obvious metaphor for the deceit and manipulation rampant in Yugoslavia under Communism, with the common people kept in the dark while the party leadership enriched themselves and gorged on power.

With such weighty themes threading through the film, one would expect it to be a heavy and ponderous experience, especially considering its nearly three-hour running time. Rather, it is surprisingly light on its feet, with a boisterous spirit and a comic exuberance that only begins to falter when the film takes a turn into horrifying darkness for its final act, mirroring Yugoslavia's descent into the scourging fire of ethnic war. Before this bracing coda, the film is often darkly hilarious even at its saddest or most violent moments. Blacky, a fun-loving soul with a generous heart and a prodigious capacity for celebration, often drafts a full marching band into following him around everywhere he goes. The film is propelled by the pulse of the region's music, a constant ba-bum-bum-bum rhythm emanating from the ever-present horn section. Underground is a joyous, celebratory, delirious satire that traces a country's history in the overblown, comic saga of a pair of friends whose story reflects the larger struggles of their nation.

4 comments:

Bob Turnbull said...

Still the only Kusturica I've seen. Sigh, yet another hole I need to fill...

Delirious is an apt term. Though I didn't quite get as much out of it as you did, there were some truly amazing moments throughout as well as many baffling ones. Kusturica sure didn't temper his ambition in this film...I left the film feeling sad, but I know a great deal of that is due to being so inadequately informed regarding the history behind the story and knowing that the reality was likely so much worse...

Ed Howard said...

I admit, I need to see more too. I have a few of his films waiting in my to-watch pile.

Bob, I'm with you in not knowing as much of the real history as I probably should -- and I know some Yugoslavians aren't happy with Kusturica's representation of them in this film. But I think the film is great at communicating the feel of the history if not the actual facts behind it. The final half-hour is just devastating, and made more so by the overall mood of glee and celebration that preceded it, even through the darkest parts of the story prior to this point. It's a grim farewell to a disintegrating nation.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just watched this recently and can't quite believe it took me so long to watch it. It's undeniably a masterful piece of film making. Much of the criticism comes from the representation of Croats/Slovenes in the documentary footage as grateful when the Nazis arrive, cheering them on. The Serbs defend their homeland, brave, courageous to the end. Although you can say that the two "heroes" are morally compromised, willing to cheat, lie and manipulate one another to the end. Maybe it requires a deep understanding of the complex history of Yugoslavia to truly understand. Added to this was Kusturica's rejection of his Bosnian heritage and his pro-Milosevic statements - I remember reading though that his family only became Muslims to survive the Ottoman Empire, not through faith itself.

I reviewed Underground quite recently:

http://thirtyframesasecond.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/underground/

It's quite difficult to do the film justice in such a short write up; there is so much you could write about this film and I'm sure some have.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
in my opinion this is one of the greatest movies ever. But it is not easy to digest for Hollywood fans and you need to watch it on the BIG screen with good sound. A normal TV set doesn't fit the movies size. This really has a huge impact. When i first saw the movie in 1996 nobody left the projection room even minutes after the end titles. Amazing images (the church bell rope, the burning wheelchair, the floating bridal veel, the destroyed zoo,...), a crazy plot, Bregovics soundtrack and the genius Kusturica result in a lot of fun. Enjoy it!