Underground Review

Number 148 on the top 1000 films of all time is the epic Serbian comedy-drama Underground.

Underground opens on friends Peter "Black" Popara (Lazar Ristovski) and Markon Aren (Miki Monoslovic) on the eve of WW2 in Yugoslavia.  From here, we chart their friendship through WW2, the Cold War and the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Clocking in at 163 minutes, Underground is a sprawling history of Yugoslavia told through the likeable characters of Blacky and Marko.  From the start, we see they are hedonistic, fun-loving men fond of alcohol and women.  Marko has a mistress in the form of theatre actress Natalia.  She also catches the eyes of the local Nazi commandante.  Marko ends up killing the Nazi.

From here,we move into the Cold War where Marko has become a close advisor of General Tito.  meanwhile, he has Blacky hiding underground and has tricked him into thinking the WW2 is still continuing.  he does this so that Blacky and others can make weapons, which Marko sells on for great profit.  Marko's memoirs also inspire a film to be made. While this is occurring, Blacky escapes.  Thinking WW2 is happening, he mistakes the Nazi-dressed extras as the real thing and he kills them before running away.

The final part takes part during the heights of the Yugoslav wars.  Marko has continued his arms dealing and is trying to broker a deal.  Meanwhile, Black has risen through the ranks to become a commander of a militant group.  He unknowingly discovers Marko's group and orders them to be executed for being arms dealers.  It is only after, in a very poignant moment, does he realise what he has done.

While this film was good enough to merit a place on the top 1000 films of all time, it just wasn't for me.  The content matter was interesting especially as it was about a subject I know little about.  But ultimately I don't have much to say.  It wasn't my type of film.