Chosing this 'unrealistic' story, is pure genius.
I agree completely. What better way to describe in allegory the political rupture of Yugoslavia than through the eyes of those people in the basement? When they first went to hiding they were fervent patriots, when they finally got out the country they knew was no more. It was falling apart and fragmenting itself and in that first contact with the reality they had no clue why -- wait, so isn't it the Germans? Who, then? Oh... it's us. So I think the entire film is about that bewilderment, it is basically just asking "how did it come to this?" and trying to make sense of such a turn of events, beyond the historical whys and whens that we all know of. It's not meant to be documental or political, but philosophical.
"Of all thieves, fools are the worst; they rob you of time and temper." J. GOETHE
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AlexSefton
10 years ago
The truth is humans kept within the confines of a closed space without access to sunlight would have apparent health problems within less than 5 years. They might still be alive after 20 years, but would not be as healthy as Blacky was when he and his son got out. Doesn't matter how much exercise and healthy food they had during their time underground, without the UV from sunlight their bones will deteriorate.
I agree with Prutnumse. It's definitely not meant to be realistic. If some people call this crap because they say it's unrealistic, then they're being foolish. They don't get that the movie is actually meant as a metaphor and all unrealistic elements in it were deliberate.
People should get the message when Blacky survived the explosion of a hand grenade while being stuck in a box without losing any of his limbs. Or when Marko was inspecting the film shoot and all the actors look exactly like them. It's a metaphor.
Being kept underground was also a metaphor. It just means that those people were being hidden from the rest of the world. Here's a quote from another user, who has read the book this movie was based :
A labyrinth of tunnels under the surface of Europe, connecting all large cities.
It could be understood as a metaphore, maybe the meaning would be that the whole world, not only those in the cellar suffers the same injustice. Underground in this film, alongside many other things, represents dirtyness, secrets, betrayal... So maybe underground roads represent the same, where people are constantly trying to find peace and salvation, driven by paranoia.
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