Black Cat, White Cat is a very stylized and almost cartoonish movie that focuses on the more colorful and "eccentric" aspects of Romani culture and uses it as the backdrop for an action comedy. The film utilizes an incredible and over the top style that's reminiscent of Terry Gilliam. The action is quick and fun. The comedy is sharp and dynamic. All the subplots converge and provide a satisfying ending. It's a brilliant movie.This is one of very few movies that focuses on Roma culture and it's one of the most popular among the actual Roma community. That's probably because it doesn't dwell on the ethnic aspects of the characters. They have their own personalities. The use of stereotypes in the movie are fairly minor and doesn't act as a detriment to the overall quality of the film. The fact that Matko is a conman isn't portrayed as being connected to being Roma, likewise Grga was portrayed as a gangster who happened to come from a Roma background. It doesn't really imply that the two characteristics are related. There are also Roma characters in the film that don't fall into theses stereotypes, such as Ida and her mother, so it doesn't paint Roma culture in a negative light by making these characters crooks. If anything the characters they chose to make criminals show that the stereotypes are based on old fashioned ideas that are now outdated. This is displayed in how different generations of characters act. Grga is the oldest Gypsy character and the most over the top. He is a powerful mob boss and surround himself with a lot of very ornate and gaudy things, such as his golden sunglasses or a bed that rocks like a cradle. Matko is from the next generation, and he is a small time crook with slightly unusual clothes (like a weird hat) but less so than Grga. By the time we get to Zare and Ida, the youngest characters and the movies main protagonists, there aren't any characteristics or features that expressly label him as Roma. He would be considered a very plain character by most standards. They're just normal people. Again, while the more overtly Roma characters in are also show to be more criminally inclined, the film doesn't credit that to their cultural heritage. Regardless of whether or not this was the filmmaker's intent, it paints the all the different stereotypes as a silly thing from the past, with little relevance to the modern day.Black Cat, White Cat is much more focused on telling a fun story that takes the characters on an interesting adventure than it is showing an accurate depiction of Roma Culture, and it's a better film because of it.

I only know of this film because it was on the memory of a 2nd hand mp4 player I bought today. I had a look on here before watching it and saw that a few people were complaining about the lack of plot and poorly developed characters. I can only assume they were either watching a different film or had been brought up on linear Hollywood pap. this is a brilliantly realised film with absurd but very real characters who have found themselves in an absurd but all too likely situation.the plot twists and turns and just when you think you've got a handle on it, it twists again and takes you on another tangent. no opportunity to make a joke is missed and all of them work, some are hilarious. show me another film that has a dwarf running away from a wedding in a tree stump or a man wiping sh*t from himself with a goose and I will buy your popcorn for a year. although this is ostensibly a gangster movie, it is never ugly or cynical and there is warmth and humour here and even a very touching love story, shot beautifully in the sunflowers. i loved every second of it.

This was recommended by a friend, as the best film she knows. This is an intelligent woman, so I endured some frustrating months trying to find it in the US, finally to see it on an overseas trip.It wasn't a great experience for me, excepting two elements. My guess is that I am not from the south of European as my friend is. The stereotypes that are exploited here are simply unknown to me, and all the humor depends on exploiting the twinge that real stereotypes elicit. Also, as an American, I get no reward from the knowledge that this is genuinely human from a region that was at the time deep in the most depraved state genocide. The distance between civilization and barbarity in this area of Europe was little more than the distance I often drive to visit a movie theater.Lacking that, what I get is zaniness unconnected to my sense of self and dread. So the zaniness taken out its situation has to stand on its own. It doesn't for me, because it is not handled as a cinematic value, rather just a color, a tone. If you have not seen this, it is a sort of "Cannery Row" based on the foibles of Balkan Gypsies: twisted families, peculiar macho drives, love theft and lies.There are two very lovely things here. One is the liquid environment. The locations and how they are handled is extremely cinematic. Everything is in motion: gaggles of birds, other animals, boats on the river, an old gangster in a raggedy vehicle and of course the troop and camera. The fluidity of this is far more valuable than the humor, at least for me.The other lovely thing is a seduction scene that may be one of the most engaging in cinema. A quirky young woman has her eye on a young man. Like all men in this world, he is a nitwit, but is young and clean. She leads him to a field of sunflowers, where she romps while stripping and enticing by running away. Her teasing giggle is profoundly attractive, and I suppose that this one scene must have percolated for a long time. (In all later scenes, the quirkiness of the girl is gone, and she plays simply a love interest.)Oddly, the cats of the title are the clumsiest and least integrated bit.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I can't get enough of this movie. It's simply genius. The fact that I live in an (almost) Balkanic country made me understand it better. It shows us the reality of a mixed-up community from Serbia, close to the Bulgarian border, on the Danube. I think it's pretty accurately illustrating the reality of the mid-end 90's in that part of the world, through its characters and action in a very hilarious way. Its soundtrack is very original and it's pointing to the heritage and location of the movie's characters and really sticks to your mind. The action is fast- paced, and the off-action gags(the two cats and mostly the pig eating the Trabant are very original and incredibly funny). It has really made my day and I recommend it to absolutely everyone.