The riotous new film from Emir Kusturica, the award-winning director of Black Cat White Cat and Underground, is an irresistible blend of bawdy humour and love story, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Bosnian war of the early 90s.

Bosnia, 1992: Luka, a Serbian engineer from Belgrade, has installed himself in a village in the middle of nowhere with his opera singer wife, Jadranka, and their son, Milos. Luka is preparing to build the railroad that will transform the region into a tourist's paradise. Utterly engrossed in his work and blinded by natural optimism, Luka remains deaf to the increasingly persistent rumblings of war.

When the conflict explodes, Luka's life is turned inside out. His wife, Jadranka, disappears on the arm of a musician while his son Milos is called to the front. Ever optimistic, he waits for his family to return; but Jadranka doesn't come back; Milos is taken prisoner; and the Serbian army appoints Luka the guardian of Sabaha - a Muslim hostage.

Before long, Luka has fallen in love with Sabaha, but the young woman is destined to be handed over in exchange for a Serbian captive... Milos!

Filled with a wonderfully eccentric bunch of characters, marauding bears and lovesick donkeys, Kusturica's vivid, life-affirming tragi-comedy bursts with invention and anarchic energy. Nominated for the prestigious Golden Palm award at the Cannes film festival 2004