Underground

Name: Underground
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, War
Released: June 20, 1997
Duration: 170 min
Rating: 79
Cast: Bora Todorovic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic, Ernst Stötzner, Lazar Ristovski, Miki Manojlovic

1997

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

CiBy 2000 | Release Date: June 20, 1997 | Not Rated

Starring: Bora Todorovic, Danilo 'Bata' Stojkovic, Ernst Stötzner, Lazar Ristovski, Miki Manojlovic, Milena Pavlovic, Mirjana Jokovic, Mirjana Karanovic, Slavko Stimac, Srdjan Todorovic

Summary: A group of Serbian socialists prepares for the war in a surreal underground filled by parties, tragedies, love and hate.

Director: Emir Kusturica

Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 170 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Ed Gonzalez

Underground is a unique blend of lowbrow slapstick and sophisticated war commentary, earning it well-deserved comparisons to Ernst Lubitsch’s brilliant To Be and Not To Be (possibly the funniest movie ever made) and the films of Abbott and Costello. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Delirious in its excess, but never less than ferociously intelligent and operatically emotional, Underground represents one of those rare, exhilarating moments when an outsize artistic vision is fueled by an apparently unlimited budget. Not to be missed. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

Emir Kusturica's magnificent fresco rips through half a century of the tragic history of his homeland -- the former Yugoslavia -- with all the solemnity of an amusement park ride. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

It’s a sprawling, rowdy, vital film laced with both outrageous absurdist dark humor and unspeakable pain, suffering and injustice. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

However one chooses to take its jaundiced view of history, it's probably the best film to date by the talented Kusturica (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream), a triumph of mise en scene mated to a comic vision that keeps topping its own hyperbole. Read full review

Michael Dwyer

To emphasise the absurdity of war, Kusturica shapes Underground as a wild, intense tragic comedy that is as black humoured as it is upsetting. [25 Oct 1996, p.13]

Barbara Shulgasser

I suppose Kusturica can justify the 167-minute length by the historical breadth of the movie, but it simply doesn't sustain one's interest, significant or not. Read full review

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User Reviews

PeterPant

Dec 24, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the best films ever made - a pinnacle in Emir Kusturica's film universe, where Balkan history, music and folklore is melted into a unique pituresque image of delightful and despondent madness. Why this masterpiece isn't much more frequently on the menu list in diverse streaming channels is a mystery.… Expand

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sachineldho

Feb 18, 2023

Too naive to be called a war movie. Kusturica's Underground is more about songs and dance than it is about war. The film fails to consider the socio-political aspects, and just gives everything a comical effect.

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