manxman-1 Review of Black Cat, White Cat

Black Cat, White Cat (1998)

Absolute madness! Like the Marx Brothers on LSD.

[10/10 · 9 October 2002]

Think about the Marx Brothers on LSD. Then double it. Then treble it. So what's the movie about? Well, there's this gypsy, a minor black marketeer, and his teenage son dealing with the cargo ships that drift down the river where they live. The father wants to hit it big - hijack a fleet of gasoline tankers. He needs a partner to set the whole deal up so he approaches a sex-crazed, gun-toting, fellow black marketeer who just happens to have an ugly, dwarflike sister whom nobody will marry. What's that? She doesn't want to get married? Okay, then tie her to a rope and throw her down the well until she agrees! A wicked double-cross takes place and the teenage son must marry the dwarf to save the father. But the son is in love with a homicidal waitress who's a crackshot with a rifle. And then there's the two dead grandfathers, on ice up in the attic so they won't disrupt the wedding. And then there's the band playing up in the tree. (Well, actually they're tied to the tree so they can't get away.) And then there's the wild escape and the tree running through the forest. (Yes, you did read that correctly.) And then there's the happy ending. Nobody walks in this movie! Everybody runs or jumps or dances. Lowlife characters. Absolute madness. Blacker than black comedy. Totally insane.