Review of Life Is a Miracle (2004) by Camille K — 18 Aug 2009

Emir Kusturica's 2004 film ZIVOT JE CUDO (Life is a Miracle) is a story of love and loss and love again unfolding among the chaos of Bosnia's civil war. Luka (Slavko Å timac) is a Serbian engineer who has moved from Belgrade to a mountain hamlet in Bosnia. He has brought with him his wife Jadranka (Vesna TrivaliÄ?), a mentally ill opera singer, and his son Milos (Vuk Kostic), an aspiring footballer. Luka hopes that the mountain railroad he is building will bring tourism to the region, but just as it is ready, war breaks out. Matters with his wife deteriorate as she leaves him for a visiting Hungarian musician, but passion is kindled with the Muslim prisoner of war Sabaha (NataÅ¡a Å olak).

The tale is generally straightforward, but as always with Kusturica there are little elements of magical realism: the dead come to life, dream-like sequences sometimes stand in for the facts of war. This is Kusturica's second film on the breakup of Yugoslavia, the first being his masterpiece PODZEMJE (Underground). While familiar elements like the eroticism of bombings, wacky antics involving brass bands, and emblamatic animals are found here too, it never feels like Kusturica is repeating himself. So much in this film feels fresh and will prove quite memorable. This is all in all a strong effort and I would recommend it to anyone who likes international cinema.