Emir Kusturicas new film is a great example of good movie-entertainment. From the very first moment on it appears sympathetic to us. You see a man lying lazily in the sun, above him a hamster running in a wheel that drives a strange mechanical fan. In the background we hear some traditional Jugoslav music. A boat arrives with Russian goods and we see the little crook making a deal with the people on the ship. Of course everything goes wrong. Kusturica makes us love the strange environment and the strange people he presents us. The plot is complex as there are many people involved. Yet their patterns of behavior seem familiar to us; the jokes are mainly slapstick and the viewer can easily guess how the fairytale-like story will end. The director also puts very much thought into details, that eventually give the story the "final touch". One can sometimes compare his talent in this field to the great master Jacques Tati. There for example is a pig which is about to eat the inner parts of an old German "Trabant"-car, every time we see it (about four times) the car is more wrecked. There are the two cats that are seen coupling next to two ice-cooled corpses in the attic of an old house. The big difference to other comedies using the same structures and methods is that Kusturica really loves his characters and shows that all their "faults" are part of their personality; the figures in this strange society are basically like you and me.
Review of Black Cat, White Cat
