Underground (1995)

Original title

Подземље

Directed by

Emir Kusturica

Genre

drama film, comedy film, tragicomedy, war film

Country

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic

Runtime

2h 43m

Rated

14

Rating

7.7 of 10 from 786 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is the story of two friends whose lives and lies intertwine across decades of Yugoslav history from World War II into the breakup of the country. It follows them through chaotic events and a hidden underground world as the nation changes around them.

absurdistdarkly comicsatiricalchaoticepicunsettlingsurrealbittertheatrical

What happens

Underground (Serbian: Подземље, romanized: Podzemlje), is a 1995 epic satirical absurdist dark comedy war film directed by Emir Kusturica, with a screenplay co-written with Dušan Kovačević. It is also known by the subtitle Once Upon a Time There Was One Country (Serbian: Била једном једна земља, romanized: Bila jednom jedna zemlja), the title of the five-hour miniseries (the long cut) shown on Serbian RTS television. The film uses the epic story of two friends to portray a Yugoslav history from the beginning of World War II until the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. It is an international co-production with companies from Yugoslavia (Serbia), France, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary. The theatrical version is 163 minutes long. Kusturica stated in interviews that his original version ran for over five hours, and that co-producers forced edits. Underground received widespread critical acclaim, and won the Palme d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It was Kusturica's second win following When Father Was Away on Business (1985). It went on to win other honours. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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