DVD Mini Review - Whatever Happened to Dolly Bell?
I am a great fan of Bosnian director Emir Kusturica. I looked on Netflix to see what films of his they had available that I hadn't seen yet. This early work was on that list and I watched it tonight.
Whatever Happened to Dolly Bell is a simple story. It takes place in 1960s Sarajevo. This was long before that bloody war. Tito was in power and Communism was the way. Young Dino (Slavko Stimac) is greatly influenced by his father. He is also involved with some criminals who ask him to hide a prostitute named Dolly Bell (Ljiljana Blagojevic). He soon falls in love with her.
The film basically follows around Dino in his day to day life. It also shows ordinary problems such as waiting (forever) to get a new apartment. In addition, there is a musical aspect to this as Dino and some other young people form a band. Kusturica always uses music to maximum effect in his films. That is not surprising because he is in a band.
This is a wonderful little gem of a film. We can see just how great Kusturica's potential is even at this early date. Unfortunately, he is not that well known in the US. His Cannes winner Underground is a masterpiece. Other terrific films of his are When Father Was Away on Business (another Cannes winner), Arizona Dream (in English and starring Johnny Depp) and White Cat, Black Cat. Shamefully, Life is Miracle has never been released in the US - not even on DVD. But I found his latest film Promise Me This listed on Netflix and I added it to my list.
If you like films that are interesting and different go out and rent some of Kusturica's films. I think that you will be happy that you did.
P.S. The DVD includes a very interesting interview with Kusturica. He has quite a lot to say about cinema.
Whatever Happened to Dolly Bell is a simple story. It takes place in 1960s Sarajevo. This was long before that bloody war. Tito was in power and Communism was the way. Young Dino (Slavko Stimac) is greatly influenced by his father. He is also involved with some criminals who ask him to hide a prostitute named Dolly Bell (Ljiljana Blagojevic). He soon falls in love with her.
The film basically follows around Dino in his day to day life. It also shows ordinary problems such as waiting (forever) to get a new apartment. In addition, there is a musical aspect to this as Dino and some other young people form a band. Kusturica always uses music to maximum effect in his films. That is not surprising because he is in a band.
This is a wonderful little gem of a film. We can see just how great Kusturica's potential is even at this early date. Unfortunately, he is not that well known in the US. His Cannes winner Underground is a masterpiece. Other terrific films of his are When Father Was Away on Business (another Cannes winner), Arizona Dream (in English and starring Johnny Depp) and White Cat, Black Cat. Shamefully, Life is Miracle has never been released in the US - not even on DVD. But I found his latest film Promise Me This listed on Netflix and I added it to my list.
If you like films that are interesting and different go out and rent some of Kusturica's films. I think that you will be happy that you did.
P.S. The DVD includes a very interesting interview with Kusturica. He has quite a lot to say about cinema.
posted by Film Fanatic | 8:44 PM
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