As with some of Fellini's late works, the energy and inventiveness, not to mention the juicy vulgarity, are so consistent in Black Cat, White Cat that you feel you can slice into the material at almost any point.

It's anything but subtle but the magnetism of the cast and sheer exuberance of the storytelling make this fairly irresistible.

A colorful, frenetic mixture of slapstick and folklore that stands a good chance of delighting arthouse audiences the world over.

It's like a novel written entirely in italics, every single sentence of which ends with an exclamation mark. As there are people of whom it's said that they don't know their own strength, Kusturica is a film-maker who doesn't know his own brilliance.