Paris to world: Bosnian director still controversial
In case nobody noticed, Emir Kusturica, chair of this year’s jury at Cannes, is not, uh, universally loved or admired, even though his films may be. That was the message of a rather long and not very interesting piece in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine, which prompted an interesting discussion over at East Ethnia.
Today, the Paris edition of the Times runs the same story; it may have been cut from 3,300 to 1,500 words but remains singularly unenlightening.
The discussion seems to divide interested parties into two: those who believe that one can enjoy his movies without taking note of Kusturica’s (rather bizarre) political statements (asked why he never spoke out against Milosevic, his stock answer is, “nobody’s perfect.” Imagine Albert Speer saying that…), in other words, that his movies and his politics — as regrettable as the latter may be — inhabit a different moral universe; then there are those who believe that Kusturica’s dubious politics are right there, in his movies, especially Underground.
In any case, this seems a good pretext to again watch some his films — always a pleasure, though one that also leaves me baffled.
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