GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
Menu

Master Rank #358

Black Cat, White Cat

1998

GCML Total8.7040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Emir Kusturica

CastBajram Severdžan · Srđan Todorović · Branka Katić

SerbiaRomani / SerbianComedy / Romance127 minR
GCML CuratedNarrative FeatureModerate pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Venice · 1

Spoiler-free premise

Danube hustler Matko incurs gangster debt and agrees to marry his son Zare to Dadan's unwanted sister Afrodita.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Small-time Danube smuggler Matko botches a fuel-train scheme financed by flamboyant gangster Dadan. To settle the debt, Dadan demands that Matko's teenage son Zare marry his diminutive sister Afrodita, though both intended spouses love other people.

Why it belongs

Black Cat, White Cat lets criminal farce overflow into carnival through brass music, animals, riverbank clutter, and performers moving at comic extremes.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Accordions, geese, pigs, trains, ramshackle houses, gangsters, wedding rituals, and nonstop lateral motion fill the frame with anarchic life. The young lovers' directness gives the grotesque plotting a simple emotional line.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Venice1 win1998 · official Venice 1998 awards ↗
Silver Lion for Best Direction1998 · Emir Kusturicaofficial Venice 1998 awards ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Date Night
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Continue the conversation

Double Feature