''Life Is a Miracle'' ( sr, Život je čudo / Живот је чудо) is a Serbian drama film directed by

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...

in 2004. It was entered into the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore. The festival opened with '' La mala educación'', directed by Pedro Almodóvar and closed with ...

. It received nomination at the Golden Eagle Award in 2005 for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Plot

The film opens just as construction has been completed on a railway connecting mountainous regions of eastern Bosnia and western

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

in 1992. Luka, a Serbian engineer, has moved to Bosnia from Belgrade with his mentally unstable wife, Jadranka, and his football-playing son, Miloš, to run a railway station and act as caretaker. Luka is at work preparing the opening of the railway while Miloš attempts to become a professional footballer with the Partizan team. Utterly engrossed in his work and blinded by natural optimism, Luka remains deaf to the increasingly persistent rumblings of war, which has broken out in Croatia and threatens to spread. When the conflict explodes, Miloš is denied his place on the football field when he is enlisted into the

Serbian army The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. History Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...

, and Jadranka disappears on the arm of a Hungarian musician. Eventually, Luka receives news that Miloš has been taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. Luka considers suicide, but a profiteering acquaintance presents him with Sabaha, a

Bosnian Muslim The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

whom he has taken hostage. Luka intends to exchange Sabaha for Miloš, but the two fall in love after they are forced to flee deeper into Serb-controlled territory. When a UN-enforced prisoner exchange is finally arranged, Luka and Sabaha try to escape to Serbia at an attempt to cross the

Drina river The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long Balkans river, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps whic ...

, but Sabaha is wounded by a Bosnian sniper after squatting to urinate behind a tree. Army nurses narrowly manage to save Sabaha's life, and she is exchanged for Miloš, along with other prisoners. Jadranka also returns, and the family is reunited in their old home, but Luka is lovesick. He lies down in front of a train, but when the train stops to avoid running over a mule, it is revealed that Sabaha is on board, and the two ride away on the mule.

Cast

Slavko Štimac Slavko Štimac ( sr-cyrl, Славко Штимац; born 15 October 1960) is a Serbian actor. Born in a village near Perušić in modern-day Croatia, he later graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Štimac made his screen debut ...

– Luka * Nataša Šolak – Sabaha * Vesna Trivalić – Jadranka *

Vuk Kostić Vuk Kostić ( sr-cyr, Вук Костић; born 22 November 1979) is a Serbian actor. He is famous for his roles in movies '' Apsolutnih 100'', '' Stvar srca'', "Ubice mog oca" and ''Klopka''. Private life He is the son of actor Mihajlo Kosti� ...

– Miloš *

Aleksandar Berček Aleksandar Berček ( sr-cyr, Александар Берчек; born 4 September 1950) is a Serbian actor. He performed in more than one hundred films since 1971. He graduated at the Academy for theater, film, radio and television. He was the dir ...

– Veljo *Stribor Kusturica – Captain Aleksić *

Nikola Kojo Nikola Kojo (; born 5 September 1967) is a Serbian actor and film director. Biography Nikola was named after his great-grandfather, who was an protoiereus in Mostar. He made his acting debut before he turned 13, with the role of the boy Ivan in ...

– Filipović *

Mirjana Karanović Mirjana Karanović ( sr-cyr, Мирјана Карановић; born 28 January 1957) is a Serbian actress, film director and screenwriter. Considered one of the best Serbian and Yugoslavian actresses of all time, she is probably the best known f ...

– Nada *Branislav Lalević – President *Obrad Djurović – Vujan

References

External links

* * *
Life Is a Miracle
at

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Life Is A Miracle 2004 films Films directed by Emir Kusturica Serbian musical films Serbo-Croatian-language films Bosnian War films 2000s war comedy-drama films Serbian war comedy-drama films Films set in Bosnia and Herzegovina Films set in Yugoslavia Küstendorf Films produced by Alain Sarde 2000s musical comedy-drama films 2004 comedy films 2004 drama films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links