Admirable film.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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the characters they chose to make criminals show that the stereotypes are based on old fashioned ideas that are now outdated.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.

There is one thing when you watch a film, and you have subtitles or you understand the language. But what would you do if you don't have any subtitles or you don't understand a word of what they are talking about in that film ? I guess you will probably stop watching it. Well for me… it didn't happen with this one. That's how I realized how good a film can be. I just couldn't stop watching it. It has a great story, amazing characters, beautifully filmed and sets… and of course… great music that fits perfectly. You must watch it… you won't regret. It's a good inspiration for the young filmmakers, especially if you never attended a film school, you can learn loots from this one. So simple, but at the same time… so much. I just love the European style of filmmaking. I guess films like this one made me want to make my own films.

OK, I'm a Serbian and many of my fellow countrymen do NOT like this film, and we're wondering how on Earth is possible that everyone out of our country loved it and why it has such following. The answer could be this: people from rest of the Europe like to watch "crazy" Balkan lifestyle and stupid grimaces that the characters in this movie make. Besides this, I think Kusturica's early movies, which were great, made him creditable to make stupidities he really likes (this one and every later movie). Balkan is really unique corner of the world, but the humour used in Kusturica's movie hardly aims for intelligent people. But the main damage that "Black cat" did to Serbian cinema is overshadowing some really good pieces of cinematography that were made in this country: Special Education, Reflections, National Class, Who's Singing Over There?, Tito and Me, The Ballad of a Cruel One, The Balkan Spy, It Happened on This Very Day, Backbone, The Promising Boy, Magic Sword, Marathon Family, The Fall of Rock'n'Roll, Oktoberfest, There Are No Small Gods, Taiwan Canasta, and many others you've never heard of.

The sublime goofiness of this movie is hard to describe; you really must see it for yourself. But some of its virtues are: it manages to be a classic farce, without ever seeming stylized; it showcases and celebrates the glorious music of the Rroma people in almost every frame, while keeping the convoluted narrative running; it presents even its densest, dopiest, kookiest and weirdest characters as full human beings, not stereotypes; and, not least, it presents a number of farm animals in juicy cameo roles (the car-eating pig ought to get some kind of "Best Performance by a Barnyard Animal" prize). The title characters, for example, appear in almost every crucial scene, and end up making the happy ending possible.Young lovers, lonely hearts, domineering grandparents, stupid con-artists, coke-head gangsters and flocks of geese make up the world of "Black Cat, White Cat," always accompanied by torrents of music. If loony, generous, dark humor appeals to you, you'll love this wonderful, humane, totally delicious movie. Years later, this is still the best movie ever. You will just relish every minute of this crazy, out-of-this-world, humane and delicious masterpiece!