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

When I watch Emir Kustirica' s last film ''On The Milky Road'' with Monica Bellucci , 2016 , I realize that the director is far away from "Do You Remember Dolly Bell?" , 1981 and "When Father Was Away on Business" , 1985 for good. And there is no return to those old days. I am in deep sorrow on behalf of creative and naive Balkan cinema forever.

Those splendid days will never come back. The director is falling like a heavy stone since ''Underground'' , 1995. Even Monica Bellucci is not able to rescue this old guy.

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.

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!

This is my fourth Kusturica after the excellent Underground (9/10), very good Black Cat White Cat (8/10) and the fine Time of the Gypsies (7/10).

Those three all had something extra special going on beside the trademark imaginative eccentric direction of Kusturica films: Underground had an epic immersive narrative, BCWC an intense (quasi)antagonist, Gypsies a gorgeous outstanding song in Ederlezi. They all had expert acting, quality soundtracks and a lively energy.

On The Milky Road lacks that extra special something. The acting is only so-so (Emir himself feels miscast in the main role) and the soundtrack is merely ok rather than great. Energy is also lacking, which can't quite be explained away by the more advanced age of the protagonists. Some scenes just happen, the edits are clumsy. There's no feeling of suspense despite the later chase scene. Even the 'magic-realism' is a little underwhelming. While the ideas are good, the execution - or rather the direction of them - is lacklustre. Maybe because for most of the film the director was on the wrong side of the camera?

It's not all bad. The first half especially has a handful of nicely filmed scenes of village life, some fun eccentric ideas (that mad clock!), animal scenes are very good (except the later snake appearance betraying obvious CGI). The second half has some fine landscape shots. Humour is hit 'n miss.

For Kusturica completists it's worth watching. I've collected his other works and will get round to them eventually. Certainly a very original and imaginative film-maker. However, I'm not sure there's enough going on here to recommend On The Milky Road to anyone else.