On the Milky Road

I watched this movie at the Vue Cinema as part of the London Film Festival 2016.

A delirious "magical realism" that we have come to expect and love from an Emir Kusturica movie. He plays a Serbian milk man in love with a Serbian-Italian beauty played by Monica Bellucci.

We have a vicious clock, snakes that drink milk and wrap around people as a means of delaying them, female gymnastics out of this world and sheep that explode violently - not forgetting a literal blood bath.

The plot gets a bit over-tangled but there is nothing too over-the- top for Kusturica especially when trying to resolve a difficult situation, not even flying!

The backdrop of horrible warfare is almost matter-of-fact to the excessively romantic story that really matters here

This is cinematic anarchy in all its folkloric glory but it works and its highly entertainin

Fans of Kusturica will not only recognize all the trademarks - the general hilarious feel, the music, the rhythm, the fast transitions from ugly to beautiful, from comic to tragic, from realism to surrealism - but will probably also enjoy them. To a degree. Because this film suffers precisely from that: we have seen it all before. Despairingly, no signs that Kusturica is exploring new grounds. Worse, it doesn't seem he is interested in exploring new grounds. Worst, it seems he doesn't care about offering anything new. On the contrary, this film is a kind of regression: the basic story is not interesting at best and sloppy at worst, the characters have no depth, and the machismo is as frustrating as ever. Don't expect subtle messages here, but do expect the bravado of another carnival. Having said all this, as the saying goes, the subversion of the cultural distinction between human and animals is pretty good.

If you like Kusturica, you'd love this movie. And if you don't know who he is, On the Milky Road might be a good entry point to his filmography. Nevertheless, although this is finally a movie on par with his output from the 1990s (Arizona Dream; Underground; Black Cat, White Cat) this is still a far cry from his beginnings in the 1980s (Do You Remember Dolly Bell? ; When Father Was Away on Business; Time of the Gypsies).

The crucial event for understanding On the Milky Road and, for that matter, Kusturicas feature films after the aforementioned Arizona Dream, is the downfall of Yugoslavia which marked several generations of its inhabitants, to put it mildly. Kusturica felt this traumatic event particularly strong, presumably because he was entering his prime as director.

At any rate, On the Milky Road offers a lot of music, shooting and emotions delivered with a trademark bravado of the author. Even the subpar CGI, in particular the snake, didn't spoil the impression.

And although there is nothing essentially new here you must respect the effort of the author. In fact, Kusturica wrote the script, directed the movie and even cast himself in the main role just to be able to cuddle with Monica Bellucci on screen. A truly remarkable feat.

I saw several of Kusturica's past movies, and loved their surrealism, their being funny and dramatic at the same time. In this movie, these characteristics have become manneristic and decorative - they don't particularly add to the plot or ambiance, and almost get in the way at times. The two main characters are stiff and flat, and don't suscitate any empathy. At a certain point during the movie you start yawning and wishing they die soon. Very bad acting on the part of Bellucci, and Kusturica is even worse - please send him back behind the camera and tell him not to move from there. The rest of the cast was great, on the contrary.

I guess this film was made so the director/starring character got the chance to kiss Monica Bellucci and fullfil a lifetime dream. Trully disappointed by the lack of serious plot and common sense!