Once upon a time there was a country

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2005)

On winning the Palm d'Or of the Cannes Festival, UNDERGROUND was the film that made the Bosnian director Emir Kusturica known worldwide and celebrated as one of the most prominent creators of the contemporary European cinema. After some works more or less known as TIME OF THE GYPSIES (1988) and ARIZONA DREAM (1993), Kusturica saw his work finally recognized all over the world with UNDERGROUND, a poetic fable about the stormy and bloody history of his country, Yugoslavia. It's a film that amuses himself with the history of Yugoslavia, who plays with the unique characteristics of a people who made the connection between the west and the east, but who at the same time shows a enormous respect for that same people and that history. Kusturica films the disintegration of his country as a giant farce. A proof of love for a country, for a culture and for a people. Besides that the soundtrack is fabulous.