Black Cat, White Cat 1999

Matko Destanov, a small-time Romani smuggler and opportunist, resides in a dilapidated house along the Danube River in eastern Serbia, close to the Bulgarian border, with his teenage son, Zare. The duo carries a significant aspiration—to steal an entire train loaded with smuggled fuel. To finance this audacious scheme, Matko seeks a loan from Grga Pitić, an old gangster confined to a wheelchair and a former acquaintance of Matko’s father, Zarije Destanov, who is also Zare’s grandfather.

As Matko collaborates with his partner, Dadan, a wealthy and hedonistic gangster who is known for his drug use and gambling tricks, everything begins to unravel. Dadan betrays Matko by drugging him during a meeting, seizing the opportunity to orchestrate the heist while Matko lies unconscious, thus rendering Matko unable to repay the loan. To resolve this predicament, Dadan demands an unusual bargain: Zare must marry his dwarf sister, Afrodita. Complicating matters further is Zare’s secret love for Ida, a 26-year-old barmaid working at an establishment held by her Roma grandmother, Sujka. Afrodita, on the other hand, yearns for her own romantic adventure.

Under duress, Dadan attempts to force Afrodita into marrying Zare by dunking her in a well for good measure, while Zare, discovering Dadan and Matko’s malicious plot from Ida, takes action to rescue his grandfather from the hospital with help from a gypsy band. Meanwhile, Grga Pitić is grappling with his own worries, attempting to get his grandsons, including the towering Grga Veliki, married off.

The chaos escalates as Matko and Zare reluctantly participate in a wedding ceremony at Matko’s residence, despite the abrupt passing of Zarije. Surprisingly, Dadan refuses to delay the wedding, insisting that the show must go on, leading Matko and Zare to conceal Zarije’s frozen body in the attic. Amid the chaos, Ida provides catering for the wedding but is distraught to see her love bound to another. Just as everything seems to spiral out of control, Afrodita bolts from the ceremony, pursued by Dadan and his ill-fated crew. In a twist of fate, she inadvertently crosses paths with Grga Veliki, and sparks fly instantly between them.

As Grga Pitić tumbles out of a truck in his wheelchair, he rejoices in the newfound love between Grga Veliki and Afrodita, going so far as to coerce Dadan into accepting their union. Concurrently, Zare, Ida, and Sujka devise a plan to thwart Dadan’s control. As the wedding festivities for Afrodita and Grga Veliki unfold, Matko and Dadan engage in a game of dice, where Dadan’s penchant for cheating comes to light. Sujka secretly sabotages Dadan’s drink with a laxative, leading to unpredicted outcomes for all involved.

In yet another twist, both Grga Pitić and Zarije surprisingly return from the dead during the ceremony. Dadan, in a moment of comedic irony, rushes out of the outhouse and finds himself falling into a pit of manure, causing his harem and allies to abandon him. Amid the mayhem, Matko stays by his side, providing a makeshift shower with a garden hose. At the climax, Zare brandishes a gun at the wedding official, compelling him to marry him to his beloved Ida. The scene concludes with the couple setting sail on a riverboat bound for Bulgaria, with pockets full of cash stashed in their grandfather’s accordion, accompanied by the blessings of their family and the presence of an unlikely duo— a black cat and a white cat—witnessing their union.