Emir Kusturica

[jbeall]

Thanks for posting that, toddly6666. I've been waiting for years to get Time of the Gypsies on dvd, so I may just order the Korean version.

For those who haven't seen it, I think it's more in the vein of Arizona Dream than his more manic films (although there's certainly a manic energy to parts of this film, too), and it has the simply stunning St. George's Day ceremony in the river (a cinematic quotation of the pagan ceremony in Andrei Rublev) and at least as phenomenal a score as Underground. Goran Bregovic's "Ederlezi" is in pretty regular rotation on my itunes.

Underground is a close second for me, and I've liked all the Kusturica I've seen, but Time of the Gypsies is just such a magical film that it's a travesty there isn't a R1 version available in the year 2010.

[goodguy]

Time of the Gypsies is not only my favorite Kusturica, but my favorite movie ever (as much as such a thing is possible).

I also have the French DVD of his 2007 "punk" adaptation for the Parisian Opera, but it has no English subtitles. Featuring almost completely new music by Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra, it is much lighter in tone and more folkloristic, but it has some wonderful moments.

An unofficial trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUQCNlHYDBo

St. George's Day scene as staged in the opera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GXIBxz9wcw

[toddly6666]

Time of the Gypsies is not only my favorite Kusturica, but my favorite movie ever (as much as such a thing is possible).

I also have the French DVD of his 2007 "punk" adaptation for the Parisian Opera, but it has no English subtitles. Featuring almost completely new music by Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra, it is much lighter in tone and more folkloristic, but it has some wonderful moments.

The punk opera is available with English subtitles on Yugoslavian DVD: http://www.yu4you.com/Time-of-the-Gypsi ... vd,2141,en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And regarding the Korean DVD, I really don't know if it's an official DVD or not, but the English subtitles are pretty poor. I was waiting for this dvd forever as well. But this Korean DVD is anamorphic at least (with fair video as well). It's my all-time favorite movie ever also!

[therewillbeblus]

For Time Of The Gypsies, do people generally recommend the theatrical cut or the TV cut?

[TechnicolorAcid]

For Time Of The Gypsies, do people generally recommend the theatrical cut or the TV cut?

I haven’t seen either cut so I can’t speak for myself but the general consensus seems to be that the theatrical cut is more concise than the TV version and has a lot less unnecessary stuff added to it

[therewillbeblus]

That's what google AI says but it seems based off a single post on a message board that got no responses.. when I actually do a search I can't find any other commentary about it

[TechnicolorAcid]

That's what google AI says but it seems based off a single post on a message board that got no responses.. when I actually do a search I can't find any other commentary about it

This was what I was basing my answer on and it seems to come from a big fan of the film so I’d like to believe it’s fairly reliable:
https://martinteller.wordpress.com/2008 ... rewatch-2/

[swo17]

I couldn't tell you the differences but last time I watched this it was the TV cut and I wouldn't steer anyone away from it. Kusturica is all about excess so why not grant him the extra runtime

[mteller]

That's what google AI says but it seems based off a single post on a message board that got no responses.. when I actually do a search I can't find any other commentary about it

This was what I was basing my answer on and it seems to come from a big fan of the film so I’d like to believe it’s fairly reliable:
https://martinteller.wordpress.com/2008 ... rewatch-2/

Hey hey, that's me!

Yeah if I had to choose, I would much rather have the theatrical version. Of course in a perfect world, we'd get both.

[Lowry_Sam]

I unfortunately missed Black Cat, White Catwhen it was released but I seem to recall it being his most highly praised film upon its release. Is there a reason why it has become so obscure/unavailable after all these years?

[beamish14]

I want to throw in a good word for the extended cut of Arizona Dream. I’m surprised that a label like Arrow hasn’t released it yet.

[MichaelB]

I unfortunately missed Black Cat, White Catwhen it was released but I seem to recall it being his most highly praised film upon its release.

I'd be surprised if that was really the case; it's great fun, but it doesn't do anything that he hadn't already amply demonstrated that he could do. In fact, it's the first Kusturica film that I'd seen up to then which didn't really break any new ground at all.

[Lowry_Sam]

I'm just going by word of mouth & that I had more friends tell me I had to see it. It could be the case that it had more distribution in the US than any of his other films except for maybe Time Of The Gypsies as it had gross North American receipts over $350K during its theatrical release (according to IMDb) far more than any of his other previous films (no data for Time Of The Gypsies). It's critic average isn't as high as it's general audience average, so it might be more the case of popular among a general audience who might not have seen his other films, but it does seem to be his most successful theatrical release in the US commercially measured by ticket sales.

[therewillbeblus]

Meanwhile Black Cat, White Cat is the favorite movie of a good friend of mine, who has stated he struggles to connect to Kusturica's earlier work because it doesn't hit the same. Different strokes..

[MichaelB]

I’d recommend it—and indeed have enthusiastically recommended it—as a terrific first Kusturica film, but it’s treading water compared with his best work.

[Lowry_Sam]

It can't be a gateway movie for the masses though if there's no way to view it, which again surprises me that it's never had a physical release in the US.

[therewillbeblus]

That's so weird, because my local library has a DVD of it yet I don't see any U.S. DVD released...

[MichaelB]

It came out on DVD in a fair number of European countries, but I don't think it's had a high-definition release anywhere.

[nicolas]

It’s had a 4K release from Disk Kino / WCL.

[MichaelB]

Any good? Subtitles aren't a problem.

[Lowry_Sam]

The comments on blu-ray imply that the supposed 4k restoration (by Alpha Omega Lab in Germany) isn't any better than the HD version on the Japanese blu-ray (which also isn't that great). In other words not worth paying over $100 for, though it does supposedly have English subtitles.

[nicolas]

Alpha Omega Digital were also responsible for ruining Herzog’s Nosferatu (and to a degree Aguirre) when they AI-"restored" it last year, so no surprises here.

Here are screenshots from Black Cat, White Cat:

Spoiler