Underground (1995)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Emir Kusturica

Writers:

Dusan Kovacevic (novel)
Dusan Kovacevic (play)

Release Date:

20 June 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

The story follows an underground weapons manufacturer in Belgrade during WWII and evolves into fairly surreal situations...

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Weapon | Yugoslavia | Partisan | Love

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Miki Manojlovic	...	Marko
Lazar Ristovski	...	Crni (Blacky)
Mirjana Jokovic	...	Natalija
Slavko Stimac	...	Ivan
Ernst Stötzner	...	Franz
Srdjan Todorovic	...	Jovan
Mirjana Karanovic	...	Vera
Milena Pavlovic	...	Jelena
Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic	...	Deda (as Bata Stojkovic)
Bora Todorovic	...	Golub
Davor Dujmovic	...	Bata
Dr. Nele Karajlic	...	Falling Gypsy
Branislav Lecic	...	Mustafa
Dragan Nikolic	...	Film Director
Erol Kadic	...	Janez

Also Known As:

Bila jednom jedna zemlja (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Serbian title) (subtitle)
Il était une fois un pays (France)
Once Upon a Time There Was a Country

Runtime:

170 min | USA:167 min | 320 min (director's cut)

Country:

France | Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | Germany

Language:

English | Serbian | German | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

AB Barrandov, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

The director's cut ran for over 320 minutes.

Movie Connections:

Spin off "Bila jednom jedna zemlja" (1995)

ultimate film for YU-nostalgics

Kusturica believes (and so do I) that countries don't fall apart but are actively ripped apart. So if you want to see a short summary of Yugoslav history 1941-92 and an artist's view of why it fell apart, this movie will tell you more about it than many political books or articles. Almost everybody is portrayed with varying degrees of guilt: the communists for lying to the people, Germany for bombing Belgrade in 1941, Germany again for supplying the weapons in 1991, all nationalists... Please do not be surprised if you read negative reviews for Kusturica has stepped on many folks' feet. Invest some time, it's one of the best films in the past 15-20 years. BTW: The soundtrack is excellent, go listen.