Story Overview

On the Milky Road unfolds during the Bosnian War, in the hopeful light of spring. A humble milkman (Emir Kusturica) risks his life every morning, riding his donkey through whistling bullets to deliver milk to soldiers at the front. Amid the chaos of war, he quietly dreams of a peaceful and radiant life far removed from destruction.

His fragile routine is shattered when a mysterious Italian woman (Monica Bellucci) arrives in the village. An intense and forbidden love ignites between them, pulling the milkman into a passionate relationship that defies both war and destiny. What begins as a fleeting encounter soon turns into a dreamlike yet perilous romance.

As violence tightens its grip and enemies close in, the lovers are forced into constant flight. Their journey becomes a surreal battle against fate itself, where love persists despite betrayal, danger, and the ever-present shadow of death.

Directed by two-time Palme d’Or winner Emir Kusturica, On the Milky Road blends humor with tragedy, tenderness with brutality, creating a poetic meditation on love and survival during wartime. Structured around three phases of a man’s life—his days as a wartime milkman, his consuming love affair, and his later retreat into monastic solitude—the film is a deeply personal and lyrical reflection on memory, loss, and redemption. Inspired by the short film *Our Love*, co-written with his daughter Dunja Kusturica, the film competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.