Underground

Underground, is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Emir Kusturica, with a screenplay co-written with Dušan Kovačević. It is also known by the subtitle Once Upon a Time There Was One Country, the title of the five-hour miniseries (the long cut) shown on Serbian RTS television. The film uses the epic story of two friends to portray a Yugoslav history from the beginning of World War II until the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars. It is an international co-production with companies from Yugoslavia (Serbia), France, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary. The theatrical version is 163 minutes. Kusturica stated in interviews that his original version ran for over five hours, and that co-producers forced edits. Underground received critical acclaim, and won the Palme d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It was Kusturica's second win following When Father Was Away on Business (1985). It went on to win other honours. Plot In the early morning of 6 April 1941 in Belgrade, the capital of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, two roguish bon vivants Petar Popara, nicknamed Crni (Blacky) and Marko Dren are heading home. They pass through Kalemegdan and shout salutes to Marko's brother Ivan, an animal keeper in the Belgrade Zoo. Marko lets Blacky's pregnant wife Vera know that they enrolled Blacky in the Communist Party (KPJ).