No Man's Land
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.67 You Save: $8.31 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.89 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of No Man's Land
Movie Review: War is hell!
Summary: 5 Stars
"War; What is it good for; Absolutely nothing!" So goes the famous song by Edwin Starr. And No Man's Land is such a film that ventures out to prove that statement. Not through massive amounts of violence and bloodshed, nor through grieving families. Rather, No Man's Land is a film that uses human characters and their emotions to convey this message across, and it does so very well.No Man's Land has a very simple premise, yet uses it to full effect. The film's background is set against the Balkan Conflict of 92-95. While fighting is going on, two soldiers get trapped in the same trench, and both soldiers, Chiki and Nino, are from opposite sides of the war. Also in the trench is another Bosnian soldier, Cera, who is lying on a mine, which will detonate if he moves at all. Eventually, Chiki and Nino have to learn to keep calm before they can get out of there. They begin talking, and neither really understands why this war is being fought and points fingers at the other side. In between such talks, hostilities increase as both soldiers constantly threaten to kill each other. Meanwhile, Cera is stuck on the mine, and is the only one who stays calm throughout. Eventually the matter gets spread to the United Nations, as well as to the international media (who tapped in on the UN's radio frequency to get information) as the struggle to save the soldiers rages on.
The director, Danis Tanovic, succeeds in portraying these events very well. The characters he creates are portrayed as actual emotions, and succeeds in carrying these emotions over to the viewer. One cannot help but feel pity towards Cera, Chiki and Nino at some times, and anger at others. The media is portrayed in a negative way as the reporters stir up trouble only to improve their fame and pay. The viewer is made to hate the incompetent leaders who refuse to take action to save the soldiers, while admiring the brave UN soldiers who work their hardest to save the three men. The discussions between Chiki and Nino are quite the highlight, as their relationship fluctuates throughout. At one time, they might as well be best friends, discovering that there was a common friend between them, while at the other, they are worst enemies, ready to take the life of the other away in an instant. Their relationship continues as such until the final climax. Cera is the one who represents reason and rationality and keeps both men calm and controlled for a limited period of time.
Though No Man's Land is a low-budget film, it doesn't scream of poor production values at all. The battles depicted are small scale; nowhere near Speilberg, but effective nonetheless. Most of the film takes place in the one small trench, with a few segments just on the front lines, and around the UN offices. Additionally, the use of language throughout is well-done. Most conversations are done in the local Bosnian language, while the UN troops switch between French and English, adding to the realism of the film, and introducing the communication problem between the different forces throughout.
Speaking of language, the script of No Man's Land is, for most part, well-done. The people's emotions are captured very well through the type of language they use. The conversations between Chiki and Nino are well-written, humorous, and thought-provoking. The only real weakness in the script lies in the cliché of the scenes involving the media. Such lines have been used many times in the past before which involved negative depiction of the media in war situations (e.g. Three Kings).
Sound throughout the film is used quite well. Most of the scenes are pure dialogue with no dramatic background music; just plain silence. And this silence is used to great effect to bring the environment and tensions of war out.
The actors essay their individual roles quite well. Branko Djuric (Chikki), Filip Sovagovic (Cera) and Rene Bitorajac (Nino) both act out their respective roles very well. Their characters are brought to life, and the viewer is lead to believe that these men are actual soldiers themselves who have dealt with similar situations before. The UN officers do just as well, especially Georges Siatidis, with whom we share his frustrations. Katrin Cartlidge as reporter Jane Livingstone is good. She follows many of the aforementioned clichés of members of the press, but does a good job doing so.
Direction is well-done and helps the movie flow. The events are brought about in a very believable manner at a believable pace. The whole movie moves at a semi-brisk pace, with a lot of events taking place over a short period of time, yet the film doesn't feel rushed at all. The director works well at placing the viewer in the middle of all the action, as they try to understand the emotions displayed by the characters.
No Man's Land, unlike countless war films, make an anti-war statement effectively. As opposed to the bulk of war films that glorify war and give it the impression of being desirable, No Man's Land explores what war truly is: hell. And it does so through a simple depiction of events involving human characters, not through massive amounts of destruction or blood spill. This film truly is a modern classic, and was not entirely undeserving of the accolades it won (including the Golden Globe and Oscar for best foreign film). No Man's Land comes highly recommended.
Final Rating: 9.4/10
Movie Review: The land of everyone who has known war
Summary: 5 Stars
As soon as I finished watching this film I went onto the Academy database to find out what film won Best Picture the year that NO MAN'S LAND won Best Foreign Film. The year was 2001 and A BEAUTIFUL MIND won, which I watched last week (it's summer, I'm playing catch-up). Nothing against A BEAUTIFUL MIND (which was certainly an excellent film,in spite of the controversy over what was fact and what was fiction), but were it not for the incredible ignorance of people who refuse to see films with subtitles, NO MAN'S LAND could have taken the top prize. This film never takes a false step-- even as it tackles the enormously controversial (there's that word again) subject of the conflict in Yugoslavia, the film refuses to take any side but one of rationality in a place that had none.
The situation is simply set up. A Croatian relief patrol, lost in fog, is killed by Serb forces except for one soldier, who falls into a trench between lines-- later found by a two-man Serb patrol looking to secure the area. Certainly the Serbs have been widely regarded as the "bad guys" by the court of public opinion (as well as The Hague), but in Nino (Rene Bitorajac) we are given not a villain but a young soldier who can spout rhetoric but really doesn't know what he's doing or why he's doing it. On the other hand, it is Nino's companion who rigs the mine beneath Cera (Filip Sovagovic) with the intent of blowing up whoever tries to recover the dead-- a decidedly atrocious act, particularly when Cera proves to be merely unconscious and thus has the rudest of awakenings when he realizes his situation. Then we have Cera's friend and fellow soldier, Ciki (Branco Djuric), who hates Nino not only for the war but for what has been perpetrated on his friend.
Lest you think that this is a film of wartime angst, I hasten to add that Nino, Ciki, and Cera are able to cope with their situation with dark humor ("Who started the war?" "You started it!" "You started it!" "You started it!" "Who has the gun? Now who started the war!") and ultimately some small level of cooperation in order to get out of the trench without having either side fire on them (their solution is both ingenious and funny). It's at this point the "alphabet soup" of cultures really begins. Both sides call in U.N. peacekeepers (colloquially referred to as "Smurfs"), who are French, a British television crew who has been monitoring the radio frequencies shows up to cover the developing story, and finally a bomb expert is called in to try to extricate Cera-- and the expert is German. Thank heavens for subtitles, because by this time everyone in the audience needs them!
Of course the situation, already tense, is exacerbated by the U.N., who is afraid to do anything lest they be accused of taking sides, and the camera crews, who offend the combatants by their mere presence. We are given so many elements here that I had no idea how film would end until it actually did-- there were so many ways it could have gone. Along the way we are given other characters to care about, especially Jane Livingstone, the British reporter (Katrin Cartlidge), who is after the story but also would like to see the U.N. forced into action, and Marchand, one of the U.N. peacekeepers(George Statdis), whose humanity and conscience will not allow him to simply walk away-- even when ordered to do just that.
Ultimately there are no winners in war, and to that degree this film IS an anti-war statement. But the main purpose here is to show what happens to human character in untenable situations. Roger Ebert, in his review, mentions that he was not prepared for the beauty of the film-- Yugoslavia is STILL a beautiful country, no matter how war-ravaged. The final image is one of stillness, aching in its simplicity-- just as Thoreau said "In Wildness is the Preservation of the World," preservation also lies in learning to be still.
Movie Review: Meaningful rather than just skillful.
Summary: 5 Stars
Equal parts humor and horror, Danis Tanovic displays superior directorial ability in "No Man's Land," which goes against the normal traditional war films, and takes a stand against its subject matter. Through the use of extremely dark and satirical humor, the film is a testament to the various absurdities of war, from the hatred those who fight it continually manufacture, to the senselessness of everything that goes on around its characters. The story is filled with many characters, all of which play important roles in bringing forth the central message. The three men at the center of the mayhem are Bosnian soldiers Chiki (Branko Djuric) and his longtime pal Cera (Filip Sovagovic), both of whom are part of a relief team that becomes massacred by Serbian soldiers. After the bloodshed, Chiki finds himself in a trench between enemy lines, his entire team murdered before him.
Soon after, the Serbs send two men to search for survivors of the onslaught to take as prisoners. One of these men is Nino (Rene Bitorajac), a new addition to the front lines, and a nameless man who is killed when Chiki open fires on the two intruders. Nino is wounded, and taken prisoner, while Cera, who was wounded but not killed, regains consciousness only to discover that Nino and his comrad placed a bouncing mine underneath his "dead" body moments before they were taken down.
As the men begin bickering, Tanovic makes good use of the opportunity he is given, instilling the characters with black humor that is both humorous and meaningful when pondered. During an artillery storm, Chiki and Nino bicker over whose side it was that started the war; Chiki later ends the argument by pointing a gun at his enemy and forcing an admission of guilt from him, which Nino later uses against him once the power changes hands.
Moments such as these provide a hearty dose of laughs, but they go much further than that. The unusual relationship between Chiki and Nino takes many turns; at one point, they make the discovery of a mutual friend between the two of them, and they share a happy moment. In another time and place, these two men would be the best of friends; in this time and place, they hate each other because they are told to. This juxtaposition of different moments of friendship and angst brings home the feeling of senselessness and frustration that accompanies wars, and the unending search for answers as to its purpose.
Tanovic also chooses to instill much more into the film through various other well-drawn characters. A striving female reporter played by Katrin Cartlidge is a halting reminder of the exploitation of war through the media, while the U.N. high official, played by Simon Callow, is a provocative display of the indifference of other countries in such trying times. As the leader of a French unit in the humanitarian forces of the U.N., Marchand, played by Georges Siatidis, seems to have the clearest understanding of the events going on around him ("You can't be neutral facing murder. Doing nothing to stop it is taking sides.").
The beauty of a film like "No Man's Land" is its complexity: every subplot, every character and their hidden themes, all relates back to Cera, lying on his back with a mine underneath him. Each complex character, whether it be out of friendship, remorse for the placement of the mine, hunger for a breaking news story, or the yearning to make an impact on the ongoing battle in hopes of bringing it to an end, all of these messages are interconnected in a way that makes the film meaningful rather than just skillful.
Movie Review: Uh Huh.
Summary: 5 Stars
It's only natural that I had to review this movie... I survived the war in Bosnia, thus I feel as if this movie is also a part of me and what I went through.
A Bosnian soldier, along with his comrades, gets lost in the fog near the enemy (Serbian) lines. As the night ends, the Bosnian soldiers are awaken by the Serbian soldiers who are out to kill them. As the Serbian soldiers kill majority of Ciki's crew, he seeks shelter in an abandoned trench. But what's this? Serbian soldiers don't easily give up as they send two more soldiers (a veteran and a newbie) to find Ciki and kill him. Little do they know Ciki has a gun with which he kills the old veteran and captures the young Serbian Soldier. Now for the completely irony, Ciki, who is also wounded, gets captured by the young Serbian solider who was his prize moments ago...and so the plot moves on with more twists and turns.
It is important to keep in mind that this movie was the first film from Bosnia that was up for any kind of an award. I was personally not surprised when it won an Oscar. It was only obvious, it won numerous awards in Europe, and it was a given that it was going to bump French's Amelie outta the cell. Even though Amelie was expected to win, No Man's Land swiped an Oscar for the best Foreign Flick. A film that is hatefully loved if you will.
What I liked the best about this movie is the fact that it showed both sides, a Bosnian and a Serbian. And also, the UN side which is LOVED to be hated. Is it just me or does pretty much every new war movie (Black Hawn Down) show what kind of pricks the UN really are? Think of UN as that evil snake from the story of Adam & Eve, they basically come in, stir up some more trouble (that is not needed of course), give both sides some weapons and basically watch them fight it out. This is roughly what the UN's role in this movie is, they're there to help, but they're not really helping. Instead, we see the UN official do what they did in Bosnia for three years, sit behind their big desks, flirt with the secretaries, and give out press conferences that not only confuse the people in the war, but people in other countries as well. As you can see, the UN plays a rather big role in this movie, and what a role it is. By the end of the movie you will absolutely despise the UN, and there is a good reason why.
This movie is much more to a Balkan mind than it is to someone who knows nothing of this war. It showed everything that someone from a war could see, it captured the lovingly hateful chemistry between the two enemies, and how both sides blame each other for starting the war-- which brings me to the only flaw of the movie. The Director/Writer did not really explain how the war began. I realize this movie seems flawless for those who know everything about the war, but those who have just been tuning in, will be a bit lost. Nonetheless, everyone will be able to enjoy the anecdotes that are thrown in every now and then at the beginning of the movie, however, everyone will be baffled and saddened by the ending of this dark comedic drama. You will be speechless.
Movie Review: Three Men and a Buried Mine in a Trench
Summary: 5 Stars
"No Man's Land," starring Branko Djuric as Ciki (pronounced Tcheeky) and Rene Bitorajac as Nino shows the pragmatics of war. These two men represent each side of the Serbian-Bosnian conflict.
Both are convinced that the other side started it, and later, both are convinced the other side is bombing them directly. Both learn of the injustices done in the name of war done by their own side.
The tension of the story is not the war, but the survival of three men, Ciki, Nino, and Cera (pronounced Tsera, played by Filip Sovagovic).
Ciki, a Bosnian, and Nino, a Serb, end up in a foxhole. Neither wants to be there, and both need the other to get out alive. They don't care about the other, even as they find some common ground like a former lover they each had. The war and its wage of death is the vault between them truly acknowledging the other's humanity, but they lean on each other awkwardly, but effectively to persuade the UN to save them, and Cera, also a Bosnian.
The trouble is that Cera lays upon a mine that will detonate when he moves. Naturally, then, he stays still. The fear of the mine blowing up provides the need for them to work toward a solution. With no obvious fix, they attract the UN, who are a mix of competent and incompetent, passive and intentional leaders. The UN's indecisiveness jeopardizes the soldiers, and their philosophical unwillingness to resolve the problem only exacerbates the anger between the soldiers.
It carefully stands away from the divisive, bitter fight, indicating that the both sides aren't pure in motivation. Each character is so far removed from whatever started the conflict, that any ending becomes a tragedy.
There are two sides to any war: those who are governing it, and those who are fighting in it. Within that war, among those fighting in it, are two more sides: those who believe in the fight, and those conscripted to be there. All are part of this movie.
"No Man's Land" shows that the Big Muddy, as Pete Seeger once sang of WWII, is not just in 1942 or Vietnam. In the trenches, as a force of war's reality, evil occurs. It is the default of war that men are asked to kill, and it is the default of man that the living will die.
I fully recommend "No Man's Land." For a look at a similarly powerful movie about the Irish conflict, see Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Thompson in 1994's "In the Name of the Father."
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com