Movie Director Emir Kusturica

Aug 21, 2016
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If you like surreal, creative and crazy movies give Emir Kusturica a go.

Time of the Gypsies (1988).

It tells the story of teenage boy, Perhan, and his gypsy family who live in a poor village in Yugoslavia. They take up an offer from the local hustler to take Perhan's sister to hospital to have her leg fixed. They drop her off in Ljubljana then carry on to Italy where Perhan is drawn into the world of prostitution, trafficking in children, and street scams.

It's quite long and covers a few years so in some ways it feels more like a Korean epic than a European movie. There are some dark themes but it's mostly light hearted. Most of the scenes are quite crazy. There are weddings, dancing and music plus a bit of gypsy magic thrown in. There always seems to be a turkey or a goose flapping around. It's very colourful both visually, and with the array of strange characters.

8/10.
 
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Aug 21, 2016
15,609
24,568
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Oldham
Arizona Dream (1993)

Johnny Depp plays Alex, a slightly lost young guy. Alex's best friend (Vince Gallo) persuades Alex to drive to his uncle's place (Jerry Lewis) as he is getting married and wants him to be his best man. They meet up with a strange mother and daughter played by Faye Dunaway and Lili Taylor. Much of the movie is based on Alex's tempestuous relationships with the women. It's set in Arizona but the title refers to Alex's dreams about Eskimos.

All the leads put in good performances and look great on camera. I was surprised by how good Lewis was in a semi-serious role. Kusturica's direction is distinctive, and is what raises this above the average. Every character has interesting quirks. He likes to have animals getting involved in scenes - so here we have dogs, cats, tortoises, and a magical flying fish. He also likes the accordion. There's some fun stuff with building flying machines.

Not everything in this movies works but it's a lot of fun.

7/10
 
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I hate when these types of threads come up and i am like " Yeah i want to watch that " and cheers for the heads up.

Then i google the movie and to see where i can watch it and even though i have Foxtel ( Mainly for sports ) and Stan and Netflix and a Telstra TV Box they are never available to stream via a paid subscription!

It is always pay more and/or join a different streaming service etc for that one film you want to see.

Sucks arse sometimes and it is always the way. lol
 
Aug 21, 2016
15,609
24,568
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Oldham
Underground (1995).

More genius madness from Kusturica. He is like a Serbian Terry Gilliam.

It's set in Belgrade in three different periods. The first part, in 1941 as German bombs begin to fall, Marko and Blacky are best friends who run an underground weapons factory. Marko and Blacky both lust after the actress, Natalija, as does a Nazi officer, Franz. The second part is 20 years later. Marko has tricked the workers in the bunker into believing that the war is still happening. There is glorious confusion when some of them emerge and there's a film crew depicting the events of 20 years ago. The third part is set during the Yugoslav wars. Blacky is now a Serbian patriot leader. Marko is an arms dealer.

There are some bleak themes but it's all done in an absurdist way. The bunker is light and full of colour. The violence is slapstick. All the characters are crazy and larger than life. There's nearly always a folk brass band and dancing in the scenes. There's a chimpanzee and many other animals.

There are so many great scenes. It's a masterpiece of film making.

9/10.
 
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