This colourful, frantic and farcical comedy of Gypsy life centres around two octagenarian friends and feuding rivals, Grga and Zarije. One is boss of the garbage dumps, the other heads of the cement factories, but both have problems with their kin.

Zarije's good-for-nothing son, Matko, plans a train heist that will finally bring him respect and wealth, but is forced to ask help from Grga. He loses it all in a double-cross by his partner, the manic, coke-snorting "businessman-patriot" Dadan, who demands that he pay the debt by marrying off his son Zare to Dadan's headstrong sister, Afrodita. Complicating the plot even further, the innocent Zare has fallen for comely barmaid Ida, who soon initiates him into the mysteries of love...

Featuring authentic Gypsy music and a cast largely made-up of real-life gypsies, Black Cat, White Cat is a real-tour-de-force and confirms Kusturica's reputation as a director with an incredible talent for the surreal.