【 Chapter１ 】 Praise based on the great misunderstanding
【 a 】 When Underground was released, it was praised as the highly artistic work. The fact that the film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes also added to the phenomenon. In hindsight, however, we now know that this was the great misunderstanding. To many people, it appeared to be the highly artistic film at first glance, and they never imagined that at its heart was Kusturica's lamentations over the collapse of the former Yugoslav state.
【 b 】 No one could have understood that the carnivalistic theatricality of humor, obscenity, and merriment in "Underground" would have concealed the national affinity. Everyone assumed that such carnivalistic theatricality must be anti-establishment, that political power would be the first to censor it, and so "Underground" was mistakenly thought to be athe work of art as opposed to politics.
【 c 】 But it wasn't. Kusturica shows that having the sense of humor is not necessarily anti-politics. There are people who have a sense of humor but follow political power. In other words, humor in Kusturica is the mournful humor that people show in their dismay when the protective barrier of state power collapses.
【 d 】 Although Kusturica has avoided extreme political overtones since the release of Underground, which was criticized by some critics and intellectuals for its Serbian nationalist tendencies, his support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed that his political ideology remained unchanged.
【 Chapter２ 】 The Protective Membrane of the State
【 a 】 The following scene is from Kusturica's “On the Milky Road ( 2016 )”. The film shows how Kusturica is still haunted by his nostalgia for the former Yugoslav state 20 years after “Underground ( 1995 )” and how the fantasy in his work would not be possible without the nostalgia for that state.
【 b 】 In other words, the secret of Kusturica's cinematic fantasy that "On the Milky Road ( 2016 )" teaches us is nothing other than the idyllic nature within the political protective membrane that is the result of the nation-state's geopolitical enclosure.
【 c 】 The animals, pastoralism, nature, etc. depicted in his films are not universal natural objects that are free from politics, but rather are natural objects that politics melt into, which can only be realized within the protective political membrane.
【 d 】 So at first glance, Kustritzer's fantasies seem to be artistically constructed in the midst of the political situation, but without relation to it ( politics ). But it is not. The fantasy just doesn't seem political because politics is melted into it. That is the secret of his fantasy, and to those unaware of his political ideology, it appears to be Art.
【 e 】 But once his secret is out, it will be found that his work is similar to that of former Soviet artists who needed the protection of the state. So it is quite reasonable for him to support Kusturica's support for Putin. He was nothing but the political artist.
【 END 】
