Underground

"ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A COUNTRY"

1995 2h 50m SR

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🍅

86%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 812🍅86%Rotten Tomatoes●79Metacritic★8IMDB · 62,796

ComedyDramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Black marketeers Marko and Blacky manufacture and sell weapons to the Communist resistance in WWII Belgrade, living the good life along the way. Marko's surreal duplicity propels him up the ranks of the Communist Party, and he eventually abandons Blacky and steals his girlfriend. After a lengthy stay in a below-ground shelter, the couple reemerges during the Yugoslav Civil War of the 1990s as Marko sees the opportunity to exploit the situation.

“ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A COUNTRY”

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Cast

Predrag 'Miki' Manojlović
Marko Dren
Lazar Ristovski
Petar 'Crni' Popara
Mirjana Joković
Natalija Zovkov
Slavko Štimac
Ivan Dren
Ernst Stötzner
Franz
Srđan 'Žika' Todorović
Jovan Popara
Mirjana Karanović
Vera
Milena Pavlović Čučilović
Jelena

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Emir Kusturica
Writers: Dušan Kovačević, Dušan Kovačević, Emir Kusturica
Languages: English, French, German, Russian, Serbian
Countries: Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 170 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, German, Russian, Serbian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Emir Kusturica, shot by Vilko Filač. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Goran Bregović. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Branka Čeperac shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Emir Kusturica directs. Vilko Filač behind the camera. Goran Bregović scores. Branka Čeperac cuts. A long sit — settle in. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary. Dialogue in English, French, German, Russian, Serbian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 170 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
331 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, German, Russian, Serbian.
5International production across 5 countries: Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary.
6Directed by Emir Kusturica, shot by Vilko Filač. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Goran Bregović. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Branka Čeperac shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Predrag 'Miki' Manojlović and Lazar Ristovski and Mirjana Joković carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A COUNTRY".
11IMDB entry: tt0114787 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Released under 39 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Vilko Filač
Original score: Goran Bregović
Editing: Branka Čeperac
Production design: Miljen 'Kreka' Kljaković
Costume design: Nebojša Lipanović
Makeup / hair: Smilja Ristic
Stunt coordinator: Ladislav Lahoda
Runtime: 170 min · 2h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $14,000,000
Box office: $182,134
Return: 1% of budget
Original language: SR
IMDB: Underground (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 79/100
IMDB rating: 8/10 · 62,796 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

8 wins & 11 nominations total

Lumière Award for Best Foreign Film
Palme d'Or

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Emir Kusturica

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2023-04-20
★ 3/10
A black comedy made for a restricted audience. The film follows much of Yugoslav history, from its occupation by the Germans during World War II to its dismemberment. This is done through a small handful of characters: Marko and Blacky are friends, but follow different life paths: one becomes a kind of boss of the Communist Party, the other the head of a clandestine arms factory, which helps the another to get rich Directed by Emir Kusturica, it's a rather surreal and hard-to-understand film that feels like it was made for a niche audience that I don't belong to. There is something deeply cynical about all this, especially if we consider the critical way in which the director thought of the film: it is a film that does not bother to explain historical events, presumes that we already know them, and works on them in order to criticize the way we look at war heroes. I honestly prefer not to talk too much about the cast because I don't know any of those involved. Anyway, I feel they did a pretty satisfying job, considering the film it is and what the director wanted to do. The script has a lot of black humor, sometimes of debatable taste, and there are a number of issues that, if we think about it, make us question the plausibility of the script. For example, how is it possible for a group of people to stay hidden underground for so long without knowing what is going on in the world around them. It does not make sense. Technically, the film has excellent sets and a very well achieved cinematography. The editing is, however, a little poorly done as the film fails to maintain a regular pace, with several scenes too long. But what tired and irritated me the most was the strident soundtrack, dominated by a brass band and songs, with an adequate Slavic sound, but exaggeratedly strong and flashy.
CinemaSerf2024-05-27
★ 7/10
Though this is a bit hit and miss, and I do wonder just how many editions of the BBC's "'Allo 'Allo" director Emir Kusturica had watched, this is still quite an entertaining look at the evolution of Yugoslavia from it's wartime Chetnik phase through until the dismantling of the country following the death of Tito. It's split into three distinct parts, and the start reminded me a little of the beginning of "Hannibal Brooks" (1969) with a zoo getting bombed and keeper "Ivan" (Slavko Stimac) rescuing one of his charges - a chimp this time, not an elephant. What now ensues follows how he, his brother "Marko" (Pedrag Manojlovic) and his best pal "Blacky" (Lazar Ristovski) try to keep their families safe during the Naxi onslaught whilst, at the same time, making a few extra dinars dealing on the black market. Only "Marko" gets to go above ground, the others remain below for their own safety - but as the war concludes, the former doesn't enlighten the latter - and so like a bunch of unaware moles, they continue to manufacture their munitions oblivious of the changes up top that see their new focus being anti-Communist activities as the regime of Josef Tito becomes firmly entrenched. The final phase deals with a sort of messy reconciliation of the first two parts as well as addressing the more raw issues faced as their country disintegrates into an abyss of civil war with profiteering and treachery rife. They lose touch and chaos reigns - despite the presence of the light blue berets of the UN troops. It's quite a long old watch, this, and there are times when you could easily take a razor blade to it, but the characterisations are quite enjoyably zany and entertaining whilst leaving enough substance to their principled behaviour in defence of their country and their communities to provoke some thought, too. The comedy isn't really sophisticated, it's actually pretty slap-stick for the most part (there's a scene at the end with a burning electric wheelchair that does rather sum the whole thing up), but that humour is used to quite potent effect pointing out just how traumatic it was for anyone growing up in this part of the Balkans in the last half of the 20th century, and at how stoically and energetically many took up that challenge. I can't say that any of the acting particularly stood out (except maybe the monkey having great fun inside a fully armoured tank), it's more of an ensemble effort that mixes farce with history quite engagingly.