Emir Kusturica

[therewillbeblus]

I watched the theatrical cut of Time of the Gypsies and it didn't do much for me either.. So far I've felt like Kusturica's work outside of Underground has bursts of forward momentum and creative, novel ideas in set pieces, but spends the bulk of the time lingering in tedious sections with characters we just don't care enough about. I felt the same way about the characters in Underground - though hopefully the TV cut will flesh them out a bit - but the constantly startling activity added so much flavor that it didn't matter. I usually enjoy surreal cinema, but this director just might not be for me

[TechnicolorAcid]

I watched the theatrical cut of Time of the Gypsies and it didn't do much for me either.. So far I've felt like Kusturica's work outside of Underground has bursts of forward momentum and creative, novel ideas in set pieces, but spends the bulk of the time lingering in tedious sections with characters we just don't care enough about. I felt the same way about the characters in Underground - though hopefully the TV cut will flesh them out a bit - but the constantly startling activity added so much flavor that it didn't matter. I usually enjoy surreal cinema, but this director just might not be for me

I haven’t seen it but maybe When Father Was Away on Business might work better for you since it seems to be a bit more dramatic and character-focused than some of his other works

[Stefan Andersson]

I'm surprised that no one has yet issued a 4K set of Underground with both the theatrical and tv cuts. But given the man's marginalization in the Western festival circuit for his open support of Putin, I guess not even a French label has the desire to touch it.

In 2024, Malavida Films, France,re-released the theatrical cut of Underground in French cinemas, alongside a limited theatrical run of Underground XXL in two parts, 5 hrs 16 mins. Both cuts restored in 4K by TF1 Studio. No sign of a bluray release on Malavida´s site.

https://www.malavidafilms.com/cinema/underground - scroll down for pdf "depliant" with French-language info about both cuts. The theatrical cut ran 3 hrs 15 mins. at Cannes. The long version was shown on the Arte TV channel as Il était une fois un pays.