Emir Kusturica: Everything is going to hell (video)
“The world has become a smaller place. Everything is going to hell,” the world-famous Serbian musician and filmmaker Emir Kusturica said in Yerevan today. “There is a joke about aging people: when you reach a certain stage in life you think that young people are involved in everything. Now, your soul is not the same as it was before. Today I would say that everything is going to hell in a handbasket. The only way to save us is to create a social environment that will make people feel good about themselves,” he said. The Serbian musician believes that art is the best way to save people from the political nightmare: cinema is a way of transforming the war; the director is a general in films. Kusturica predicts the worst. He says Christians are on the verge of extinction, they are subjected to torture. He still has a question which was left unanswered: why don’t refugees simply go to Saudi Arabia, one of the richest countries in the world, but pass a longer way to get to Europe? The Serbian director, who adopted Christianity only several years ago, says, “Christianity was experiencing bad times when I was baptized and became a Christian, but as I believe in art, I also believe in God." Emir Kusturica has a special opinion about the United States. "I think that the world is paying much for the comfort of America." Then the director recalled Americans’ invasion of Iraq, the Syrian crisis and the assassination of Gaddafi. “Definitely I would not ask Santa Claus to bring me Coca-Cola,” he said. “Coca-Cola is gradually doing its work. I would ask God to keep us away from wars and not to leave Maradona without work,” he said jokingly. The musician regrets to say that modern life denies art; the influence of art has decreased in our society. “Unfortunately, if you are a star, you can have an influence [on others], but if you are an art representative, you cannot have your say,” he said in conclusion. Emir Kusturica and The No Smoking Orchestra will perform at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex in Yerevan this evening.
