THE UNDERGROUND AND ITS CONTEXT

Text topic: Context in Arts and Media

Text author: Саша Милић

The Emir Kusturica’s film appeared in 1995 and immediately it stirred spirits. After winning the Golden Palm in Cannes, an even more inflammable debate ensued. Not only film professionals but also philosophers, culture workers, politicians joined the debate. It spilled over to the countries of the west as well, and in the meantime the film has gained popularity with the audience, which raised the stakes in the public debate. This paper partly describes the course of debate development and lays out several different viewer standpoints which, depending on the context the viewer acknowledges, open up a number of political and also cultural issues regarding history of Yugoslavia. The most accessible level is the level of melodrama, comprehensible to viewers all over the world. Also, there are issues related to communist ideology in a multinational country and the role of the Communist Party. The most intricate and also most important ones are the issues regarding the film role in the history of Yugoslavia, its ideological position and the manner in which the film was used to manipulate the masses, being the most popular, influential media available to widest public.