Schwarze Katze, Weißer Kater

A noisy, raucous and infectiously lively comedy where pigs eat henchmen, mobsters snort coke from a crucifix, gypsies juggle grenades and the dead come back to life. Uff........! Thanks to the downright lively music that would bring a deadman to the dance floor and permeates the entire film, it also works as an effective musical backdrop for a party. Perfect when you are in a crappy mood, I’m going to get the soundtrack right now. (07.04.2008)

There's no such thing as a typical Gypsy. I have the nagging feeling that to fully appreciate (perhaps even understand) the film, one needs a full understanding of their complex souls. Comparing Czech and Balkan gypsies is a bit inappropriate here because of the line it draws, beyond which a lawsuit for racially motivated statements awaits. Director Emir Kusturica presents an amazing panopticon of diverse characters, whom he sends into utterly banal but all the more charming situations. The folk humor of the Balkan temperament may not be fully appreciated by Central Europeans, but the piles of "disposable" jokes will make you laugh. I don't know how the master of dark camera compositions Thierry Arbogast came up with a film like this. But his impressive filming of the Danube's shore, combined with local folk music, opened up new horizons of audiovisual culture for me. My encounter with director Kusturica was more than happy, so I am honestly not afraid of another. (20.06.2005)

Der Regisseur, müde von der eher kontroversen Rezeption von Underground, griff erneut nach dem vertrauten Zigeunerstoff, aber diesmal ließ er die Tragödie beiseite und schuf eine unglaublich schräge und originelle Komödie. Das Wort "verrückt" ist nicht ganz zutreffend, denn diese Komödie ist wie eine Blaskapelle vom Balkan: laut, wild, urkomisch, animalisch... Die Geschichte über eine Freundschaft bis über das Grab hinaus, ein heikles Ölgeschäft und eine verwöhnte Hochzeit wurde durch die brillante Figur des Mafiosis Dadan aufgewertet. Seine Tanzkreationen und sein Schnupftabak-Kruzifix sind unvergesslich... Kusturica hat wieder einmal seinen Namen unter einen Film gesetzt, den man nicht verpassen sollte. Übrigens, wissen Sie, was Balkanschweine fressen? Trabants! (28.01.2004)

A tsunami of emotive spontaneity to the rhythm of Balkan brass bands presented in a way that is unique to Kusturica, with a bit of magic realism on top. And a pig steadily devouring a Trabant to add to things. So tell me, can anything like this be fundamentally bad? Unfortunately, not even this movie is without its shortcomings. The half hour following the wedding pulls this movie back from a full set of stars. From that moment on, the movie far too crazy, unhinged. The movie itself leaves you fairly soon, but the energy that it charges you up with remains long afterward. And that is what it’s all about - this is a sign of a great work of cinema. "PIT-Bull! Terrier!!" (24.01.2007)

This atypical work is difficult to evaluate, because to fully appreciate it, you probably need to at least partially understand the life attitudes and peculiar mind of the proud Gypsy nation. As I watched the film, desperately trying to navigate the frantic editing and peculiar dialogue, I realised more and more that I will probably never have any understanding for their nature. An interesting premise, fine actors and a really great soundtrack, but if Emir Kusturica wanted to suggest something specific with this grotesque, it unfortunately failed to reach my ears and eyes. 60% (05.10.2012)

A total blast... I spent an hour getting my bearings and another hour barely keeping up. A Balkan romp with some really great jokes (a pig eating the trabant) and incredible vivacity. (03.06.2008)

Gesehen bei der Challenge Tour - Film-Hunting: Aufgabe Nummer 13 - ein Film mit einer Farbe im Titel. Langsam verfalle ich der Panik, dass mein Film-Hunting zu einer Jagd auf Filmquatsch wird. Kusturica’ Poetik geht absolut an mir vorbei, ich kaufe es ihm nicht ab, und ich habe nicht einmal gelacht. Wenn ich bizarre Gestalten wie aus einem Panoptikum sehen möchte, schaue ich mir ganz sicher andere Filme an. Zwei Stunden Langeweile, ein Sternchen für den zentralen Song und Nostalgie verbunden mit No Mercy. (07.06.2015)

Excellent movie that surprised me a lot. I don't even know what I was expecting, but this black comedy full of Balkan energy simply isn't it. Whether you like the characters or not, you just can't take away from this film that it doesn't have any weak points and it keeps going the whole time, pulling the viewer along with it, who will just be staring at what they are watching and how it works. The national influences are very visible here, and it's really good. (02.07.2015)