Superb - absurdly funny yet dark, gritty and profound

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2017)

Belgrade, 1941. Germany has invaded Yugoslavia. In the aftermath of the fall of Yugoslavia, two friends Blacky and Marko organise a residence, attacking German supply trains and depots and stealing weapons from the Germans. After a few years their operation moves completely underground and consists of manufacturing weapons. Marko is the only member of the resistance movement who gets to go to the surface. When the war ends, due to the economic and status benefits to him, he fails to tell the others that the war has ended...
Brilliant movie from director Emir Kusturica. For the large part this is a comedy - some wonderfully absurd scenes and dark humour. Some of the scenes are straight out of the Charlie Chaplin playbook - clever, over-the-top physical humour. Add in a rollicking horn- filled soundtrack and you have a mood that is light and a pace that is quick.
However, it is not all comedy - far from it. There is always a dark element to the film, including showing graphic war scenes in the middle of joyful scenes and slapstick comedy. The early-film sequence of a zookeeper lovingly feeding his animals, followed by the Germans bombing the zoo, leaving dead and maimed animals strewn across the screen, followed by an escaped elephant stealing a man's shoes, is a great example of this. This does well to show the absurd nature of war.
Think Terry Gilliam meets Charlie Chaplin, with killing.
In addition, beneath the absurdist humour lies a simmering theme of nationalism and betrayal. This all comes home to roost in the final era of the film, as the movie closes the loop and some great profundities are revealed.
A movie that is sure to stick in your head, no matter what you think of it.