| ... is set in a
present-day Gipsy environment on the Danube. The plot is filled with colourful and
humorous episodes, closely intertwined and often bordering on the grotesque and the
bizarre. But at the same time it is a funny commentary on the anarchistic state of affairs
of the Balkans of the 90s. The
war only plays an indirect part and the focus of the film is always on the bubbling and
unpredictable aspects of everyday life in a place very far from chilly Scandinavia.
A young man who is hopelessly in
debt is given an offer by his creditor, the leader of a gang of criminals, which he cannot
refuse: if he marries the leader's sister, who seems to be extremely difficult to marry
off, he may get rid of his debt. The sister has her own ideas of a husband, however, and
the film develops into quite an unusual road movie.
The director, Emir Kustorica, was
born in Sarajevo and won international fame in 1989, when he was awarded the Golden Palms
in Cannes for his direction of "Time of the Gipsies". In 1992 he directed the
American production "Arizona Dream" with Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway. - In 1995
his grotesque version of 50 years of Yugoslavian history "Underground" won the
Golden Palms as the best film.
Germany, France, Yugoslavia
Running time: 127 min. |
