Black Cat, White Cat

He never wanted to make a feature film again, but then director Emir Kusturica, unnerved by the criticism of his last film UNDERGROUND, thought better of it: A documentary film project about the lives of gypsies became BLACK CAT, WHITE CAT, a high-spirited burlesque set on the banks of the Danube and a colorful celebration of joie de vivre photographed with beautiful light by Thierry Arbogast (THE FIFTH ELEMENT). The film follows on from Kusturica's TIME OF THE GYPSIES and combines traditional slapstick and screwball elements with the western aesthetic of Sergio Leone. The result is a turbulent, sometimes black comedy from the "Wild East", a homage to old Hollywood cinema (CASABLANCA) populated by fascinating characters (instead of stereotypes) and a virtuoso film about the lightness of being, set in a not-too-distant poorhouse of Europe, where everyone pays with Deutschmarks and the law of the jungle applies.