Black Cat, White Cat
Encyclopedia
Black Cat, White Cat is a 1998 Yugoslav romantic comedy film
directed by Emir Kusturica
. It won the Silver Lion
for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival
.
The literal translation of the title is actually "Black cat, white tomcat". The movie characters speak in Romani
, Serbian
, and Bulgarian
- frequently switching among them.
in eastern Serbia
near the Bulgaria
n border.
He has plans to acquire a whole train of smuggled fuel, which he finds at cut-price. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-using old gangster, who's an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko then plots the details of the job with an ally of his named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster type who has a harem, juggles grenades and cheats at gambling. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious, which means that Matko owes Dadan a great deal of cash. Matko cannot afford to pay, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt, thereby wiping the slate clean, if Zare and Afrodita, Dadan's midget sister whom he desperately wants to marry off, get married. However, Zare is in love with Ida, a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band. Grga Pitić is having problems of his own, as he wants his grandsons, including six-foot plus giant Grga Veliki, to get married.
The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone after the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Zare is dismayed, since he wants to leave the place, and had hoped that the required mourning period for his beloved grandfather would give him the opportunity to get away, and thus avoid being married off against his will. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married off to someone else. By contrast, Dadan is really enjoying himself, whether dancing to gypsy band music, bouncing on the bed with his harem, and juggling grenades. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan, Matko and Dadan's criminal cronies. Meanwhile, Grga Veliki is driving his father and brother to Matko's house so that they may visit Zarije's grave (Grga Pitić and Zarije are old friends). The fleeing bride then stumbles across Grga Veliki, and he stops the truck when he sees her crossing the road; he is willing to protect her from her villainous brother, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Pitić arrives on the scene, after his wheelchair had fallen out the back of the truck and rolled downhill, and he is delighted that Grga Veliki has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match.
The groom meanwhile conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing dice, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with something that would give him diarrhea. Furthermore, Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse ... and falls into the manure. His harem and cronies desert him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare meanwhile grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat set for Bulgaria
with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, the blessing of their respective grandparents and, as witnesses, a black cat and a white cat.
, and the appearance of the titular two cats (a black one and a white one), who end up as the only witnesses to Zare and Ida's wedding. Also, Grga Pitić is obsessed with the last line in the film Casablanca
, "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," which he says to Zarije at the end, looking at Matko washing Dadan.
and Luciano Secchi
. In one scene one of Dadan's criminal cronies can be seen reading an issue of Alan Fords Yugoslav edition.
Track listing
Other songs from the film, not included in the original soundtrack album:
Personnel
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
. It won the Silver Lion
Silver Lion
The Leone d’Argento refers to a number of awards presented at the Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion is awarded irregularly and have gone through several changes of purpose. Until 1995, Silver Lions were infrequently awarded to a number of films as second prize for those nominated for the...
for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
The literal translation of the title is actually "Black cat, white tomcat". The movie characters speak in Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, and Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
- frequently switching among them.
Plot
Matko Destanov, a small-time Roma smuggler and profiteer, is living with his teenage son Zare in a ramshackle house by the Danube RiverDanube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
in eastern Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
near the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n border.
He has plans to acquire a whole train of smuggled fuel, which he finds at cut-price. To obtain a loan that would subsidize the heist, he visits Grga Pitić, a wheelchair-using old gangster, who's an old friend of Zarije Destanov, Matko's father and Zare's grandfather. Matko then plots the details of the job with an ally of his named Dadan, a rich, fun-living, drug-snorting gangster type who has a harem, juggles grenades and cheats at gambling. However, Dadan double-crosses him and glitches up the deal by giving Matko a drink that is drugged, and carrying out the job while Matko is unconscious, which means that Matko owes Dadan a great deal of cash. Matko cannot afford to pay, so Dadan makes a deal whereby he would forgive the debt, thereby wiping the slate clean, if Zare and Afrodita, Dadan's midget sister whom he desperately wants to marry off, get married. However, Zare is in love with Ida, a barmaid who works in an establishment run by her Roma grandmother Sujka, and Afrodita is waiting for the man of her dreams. Dadan coerces Afrodita into marrying by dunking her in a well, while Zare first learns of the scheme to marry him off from Ida, who has overheard Dadan and Matko plotting it in the restaurant where she works. Meanwhile, Zare retrieves Zarije from the hospital where he is being kept, with the aid of a gypsy band. Grga Pitić is having problems of his own, as he wants his grandsons, including six-foot plus giant Grga Veliki, to get married.
The two reluctantly endure the wedding ceremony held at Matko's house, which Dadan refuses to postpone after the sudden apparent death of Zarije. They were not supposed to have a wedding while in mourning, but Dadan decides to delay the death announcement, so Matko and Zare hide Zarije's body in the attic, packed in ice. Zare is dismayed, since he wants to leave the place, and had hoped that the required mourning period for his beloved grandfather would give him the opportunity to get away, and thus avoid being married off against his will. Ida and Sujka provide the catering for the wedding, and Ida is upset at seeing her beloved married off to someone else. By contrast, Dadan is really enjoying himself, whether dancing to gypsy band music, bouncing on the bed with his harem, and juggling grenades. However, the bride runs away mid-ceremony, pursued by Dadan, Matko and Dadan's criminal cronies. Meanwhile, Grga Veliki is driving his father and brother to Matko's house so that they may visit Zarije's grave (Grga Pitić and Zarije are old friends). The fleeing bride then stumbles across Grga Veliki, and he stops the truck when he sees her crossing the road; he is willing to protect her from her villainous brother, and the couple fall instantly in love. Grga Pitić arrives on the scene, after his wheelchair had fallen out the back of the truck and rolled downhill, and he is delighted that Grga Veliki has found his mate. The old gangster forces Dadan, who had once worked for him, to accept the match.
The groom meanwhile conspires with Sujka and Ida to bring Dadan down a peg, and rigs the outhouse so that the seat will come apart. While the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Afrodita and Grga Veliki are being conducted, Matko and Dadan pass the time by playing dice, with Dadan cheating. Sujka comes in during the game, and serves the unsuspecting Dadan a drink spiked with something that would give him diarrhea. Furthermore, Grga Pitić apparently dies, and Dadan and Matko hide his body in the attic, where Zarije's body is also hidden. However, the two corpses soon both come back to life; they were not dead after all. They are surprised to find themselves together, as they had not seen each other for 25 years and each had thought the other was dead. During the ceremony, Dadan starts to feel uncomfortable and rushes into the outhouse ... and falls into the manure. His harem and cronies desert him, and as he tries to clean himself off on a goose, only Matko remains loyal, and he provides Dadan with a shower from the garden hose. Zare meanwhile grabs the wedding official at gunpoint and orders him to solemnize his marriage with his sweetheart, Ida, and the two sail off together on a riverboat set for Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
with a fistful of cash stashed in his grandfather's accordion, the blessing of their respective grandparents and, as witnesses, a black cat and a white cat.
Cast
- Bajram Severdžan as Matko Destanov
- Srđan Todorović as Dadan Karambolo
- Branka KatićBranka KaticBranka Katić is a Serbian actress known for appearing in the movies Black Cat, White Cat and Public Enemies, and in the TV series Big Love.-Career:...
as Ida - Florijan Ajdini as Zare Destanov
- Ljubica Adžović as Sujka
- Zabit Memedov as Zarije Destanov
- Sabri Sulejmani as Grga Pitić
- Jasar Destani as Grga Veliki
- Salija Ibraimova as Afrodita
Recurring images
There are many recurring gags throughout the film, for example a scene where a pig is devouring an old run-down TrabantTrabant
The Trabant is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc...
, and the appearance of the titular two cats (a black one and a white one), who end up as the only witnesses to Zare and Ida's wedding. Also, Grga Pitić is obsessed with the last line in the film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," which he says to Zarije at the end, looking at Matko washing Dadan.
Inspiration
Some of the film's plot points and scenery are strongly inspired by an influential Italian comics series, Alan Ford by Roberto RaviolaRoberto Raviola
Magnus, pseudonym of Roberto Raviola, was an Italian comic book artist, regarded as one of the foremost cartoonists of all time in his country.-Biography:Born in Bologna in 1939, Raviola lived there for his whole life....
and Luciano Secchi
Max Bunker
Max Bunker, pseudonym of Luciano Secchi is an Italian comic book author.Secchi was born in Milan. His career started with a western style comic book Maschera Nera , in 1962, and went on to enjoy success with Kriminal and Satanik in collaboration with Magnus...
. In one scene one of Dadan's criminal cronies can be seen reading an issue of Alan Fords Yugoslav edition.
Soundtrack
Music has an important place in this picture, as it is present in almost every scene. Zarije is especially devoted to music as he's seen with the local band playing specially for him on the way from hospital and then at the fair near the lake.Track listing
- "Bubamara Main Version" – 3:57
- "Duj Sandale" – 2:49
- "Railway Station" – 2:33
- "Jek di Tharin II" – 3:55
- "Daddy, Don't Ever Die on a Friday" – 3:18
- "Bubamara" – 2:36
- "Daddy's Gone" – 1:07
- "Long Vehicle" – 6:01
- "Pit Bull Mixed by Pink Evolution" – 3:40
- "El Bubamara Pasa" – 3:20
- "Ja Volim Te Jos/Meine Stadt" – 3:14
- "Bubamara Tree Stump" – 0:33
- "Jekdi Tharin" – 2:42
- "Lies" – 0:30
- "Hunting" – 1:01
- "Dejo Dance" – 1:01
- "Bulgarian Dance" – 1:25
- "Bubamara Sunflower" – 3:10
- "Black Cat White Cat" – 8:52
Other songs from the film, not included in the original soundtrack album:
- "Where Do You GoWhere Do You Go (No Mercy song)"Where Do You Go" is the name of a song written by Peter Bischof and Franz Reuther. It was released in 1996 by No Mercy on their eponymous debut album. That same year, the group released it as their first single. It became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #5, and would be their...
" - Performed by No MercyNo Mercy (band)No Mercy is an American pop and dance music group formed by Frank Farian in Florida in 1995, consisting of Marty Cintron , and twin brothers, Ariel and Gabriel Hernández , from Miami, Florida.-Career:In 1996, No Mercy released their debut album titled No Mercy, later re-released in Europe retitled My...
(Scene at Dadan's house) - "Nowhere FastNowhere Fast"Nowhere Fast" is a song, first performed by Fire Inc. in 1984 for the rock movie Streets of Fire. A cover of the song was later recorded by Meat Loaf. The song was entirely written by Jim Steinman. Laurie Sargent performed the lead vocals. Holly Sherwood and Rory Dodd performed the background...
" - Performed by Fire Inc.Fire Inc.Fire Inc. was a Wagnerian rock band that released two songs for the rock and roll film Streets of Fire in 1984. The two songs never had any real commercial success. In the film Ellen Aim and the Attackers performed "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" with Face to Face playing the part of the...
(Ida is seen dancing to music video of this song) - "Money, Money, MoneyMoney, Money, Money"Money, Money, Money", originally "Gypsy Girl", is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song, like most ABBA songs, was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was released as a single on November 1, 1976, as the follow-up single to "Dancing Queen, both from the album Arrival...
" (ABBAABBAABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
) - Covered by Dadan - "Ne dolazi" - Covered by Matko
- "Dunaveki vali" - Performed by music box
- "Lubenica" - Covered by Dadan
- "Jek Ditharin" - Performed by Braca Lavaci
- "Von cerena todikano svato" - Performed by Ljubica Adzovic
- "An der schönen blauen Donau" - Performed by the Belgrade Philharmonic OrchestraBelgrade Philharmonic OrchestraThe Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra in Serbia, regularly considered as one of the finest in the country. Its home base is in Belgrade.- History :...
Personnel
- Vojislav Aralica – guitar, keyboards
- Saban BajramovicŠaban Bajramovic-Biography:He was born in Niš where he attended primary school for only the first four years. On quitting school, he picked up his musical education on the street.When he was 19 he ran away from the army out of love for a girl...
– vocals - Rade Kosmajac – keyboards
- Zoran Milosevic – accordion
- Bokan Stankovic – trumpet