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: "By the way, who started the war...?"
Summary: 5 Stars
"No Man's Land" is a triumphant and dark satire with raw power that is both undeniable and mesmerizing. And that says a lot, being that I'm not the biggest fan of foreign films. The film is funny and tragic at the same time. Very rarely can you come across a decent movie that can successfully combine drama with comedy, let alone finding one that is superb. "No Man's Land" is indeed superb on all levels.The film takes place during the horrific Bosnian-Serb conflict. In a strange turn-of-events, a Bosnian soldier ends up being trapped with a Serbian soldier in a trench (a wounded comrade of the Bosnian soldier is also in the trench). Both the Bosnian and Serbian sides refuse to help the two, so it's up to the UN to try to come up with a reasonable solution. Now, that would sound like a great idea, except the UN is portrayed as being extremely lazy and incompetent. While in the trench, the two armed soldiers have nothing to do but to wait for help... that is, if they don't kill each other first.
This is a unique film that is fresh and daring. Not a single boring minute went by during my whole viewing of the movie. It's tragic, and yet comical. The movie is able to work on every emotion, which is something that is very hard for a film to do successfully. While it is indeed a satire, the film does a good job of setting up the stage for the Bosnian-Serb conflict and gives us an idea of what was happening during that time. It's a film that will make you want to learn more about the conflict, which is something I highly recommend. After you read more about it, then watch the movie again and I guarantee you that you'll enjoy it a lot more the second time around.
The DVD is pretty standard, offering very little special features. The picture quality is crystal clear and the sound is great. The movie offers English, French and Spanish subtitles. Don't let the subtitles scare you, as they are extremely easy to read and follow. It's also easy to tell what's going on without reading too much into it. The only special feature available, aside from the subtitles, is the original theatrical trailer.
"No Man's Land" is an unforgettable experience that portrays a dark time in history. It is comical and sad at the same time. For somebody who isn't the biggest fan of foreign films, I must admit that I loved this movie. An interesting viewing, if you ask me.
Movie Review: An indepth look at paradox...
Summary: 5 Stars
Perhaps this is out of line but from a Western point of view Muslims persecute those who are of a Western background. As this movie shows and as anyone who is relatively informed of world events knows, Muslims are also persecuted. This movie takes the viewer, in a modern day Catch-22, into the heart of the conflict: individuals.The movie is strangely lacking in sensationalism. It presents situations and the slow unfolding of the situation. It is the subtlety of the characters' interaction with one another that allows the drama to unfold. The drama begins with human beings and human beings reveal why it is that war is so complex. In the trench in which the movie unfolds, the human element begins to surface. We feel a connection with all of the characters and while we may not understand we begin to feel.
The Serbian and the Bosnian, bitter enemies, find connection on a human plane. One of the Frenchmen working for the 'neutral' United Nation's peacekeeping force shows his human side when he tires of playing passive observing, revealing that not to choose sides is to choose sides. The British television journalist shows her human side when she begins to understand the fine line between good journalism and exploitation. Even the man sitting on the mine shows just how human all of this is. All these elements merge in the trench.
While I watched it in subtitles it became obvious that the language differences revealed just how complicated human interaction can be. Something as seemingly simple as failure to communicate can not only be bridged by tragedy but how failure to communicate can lead to tragedy as well.
From a Western point of view, the world is pretty much black and white, good guys and bad guys, win or lose, right or wrong. This movie slowly reveals, with the 'Western' mode of thought shown as complicating rather than helping, the absurdity of war. There are no easy answers, war is never so cut and dry as we seem to sometimes think.
There are no clear answers, we can never really know or understand what happens to men during warfare and we are ultimately all just human beings in the end with all our complications. War is complicated. So are we. This movie unfolds the complication from a very human point of view that shuns Hollywood's antics. And it does so brilliantly.
The movie has lingered with me in a way few movies have.
Movie Review: Realistic as well as a metaphor on the absurdity of war
Summary: 5 Stars
Academy Award winner in 2002 for Best Foreign Film, this film about the recent war between the Bosnians and Serbs is not only grimly realistic, it is also is a metaphor on the absurdity of war in general. When two soldiers from opposing forces become trapped in a trench together, the seriousness of the situation escalates when a third wounded soldier, at first presumed dead, is actually alive. Problem is that he has been placed on a mine that will kill them all if he is moved. And, as the soldiers argue, it becomes clear that the one with the gun is the one who will always win the argument. Eventually, the UN becomes involved and the absurdity thickens. There were parts in the film where I laughed out loud, as the grim realism of the constant power struggles that are endemic to human nature are explored.The titles were in English so I could follow the film, but one of the themes was that everyone spoke a different language, further complicating the matter. There's the British diplomat, the French U.N. troops, the German land mine expert, and the three soldiers trapped in their outrageous situation. The soldiers had a lot in common, speaking the same language and even had some common memories of a local girl they both knew. And the scene is indeed comical when, in order to alert the U.N. officials to their situation, they both take off their uniforms and wave white flags. But they are sworn enemies and want to kill each other also.
The acting is outstanding, with actors from that particular area of the world. But the screenplay itself its one of the best I have ever scene. Every bit of dialogue moved the action forward and was layered with meanings that went far beyond the situation. The setting didn't require huge special effects and could actually be turned into a stage play although it might be hard to stage it in so many languages, as this "tower of Babel" kind of language confusion was one of the central themes of the film.
This film is destined to join the ranks of some of the greatest symbolic war films of all time, including "The Red Badge of Courage" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." However, as this is a modern film, it includes the irony and absurdity that represent our culture today. I give this film my highest recommendation. Don't miss it.
Movie Review: War can be fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently had the distinct pleasure of viewing this movie.It's premise begins with two soldiers from opposing sides being
trapped in a trench between two armies fighting a civil war.
Scene after scene of sidesplitting antics follow in rapid succession.
Initially only one of the men is armed. He points his rifle at the other and demands to know which side started the war. Being intimidated by the muzzle at his head, our trembling gladiator replies "we did". During a moment of carelessness the
weapon changes hands, and again the question of who started the
war comes up, and so on.
Another scene shows a soldier in another trench reading a
magazine and being horrified by the war in Rwanda, as if his cir-
cumstances were better. His expression alone was worth the price
of admission.
In addition there is a third soldier in the trench. He was believed to be dead. While unconcious his body is placed on a
land mine and now he is unable to move without detonating it. He
is a comrade of one of the other two, who shows a great deal of compassion to his friend's plight by giving him water and scratching him when he itches. The feelings of pity quickly evap-
orate when our immobile friend states he has to go to the bath-
room.
If things weren't zany enough, soon a French member of the UN
peacekeeping forces becomes involved in what has become an uneasy
truce. He hopes to deactivate the mine but has neither the equip-
ment or knowhow, and spends most of his screen presence trying to
find someone who speaks French or English. The chaos of so many different nationalties trying to communicate is a movie in its own right.
Soon the UN high command dispatches a mine technician to aid
the now weary French unit. He of course is a German. The merriment continues unabated as several media types scurry to the unfolding events and bring even more craziness to what has
become a three ring circus.
My only problem with the movie is the down turn it takes at
the end, but I won't give anymore of the plot away. All in all
though, the experience was certainly worthwhile!
Movie Review: Beautiful, sad, funny film about the absurdity of war
Summary: 5 Stars
Above all else, this is a marvelous piece of filmmaking that achieves several purposes at once. On one level, director Tanovic manages to personalize the war in Bosnia to a remarkable degree. Just as Serbian soldier Nino is constantly trying to introduce himself to other people in the film, whether friend or foe, Tanovic introduces them to us. We come to know them, and like them, and want them all the become friends with each other. The film also manages to be funny, tragic, absurd, and sad, all at the same time. The camera manages a slightly detached viewpoint throughout, enabling us to move easily from one very funny moment to an utterly tragic one with no apparent effort.Reading many of the other reviews here, one could easily gain the impression that this is a film rife with political discussion of the relative merits/demits of each side of the struggle in Bosnia. In fact, there far less political discussion in the film than one might expect. The "debate" more or less consists of the two main protagonists forcing the other to admit under gunpoint that the other side had started the war. The reason for the ideological vagueness is the film is not so much about the particular conflict in which it is set, but armed conflict in general. The predominant effect of this film is to make the armed conflict come across as monumentally silly. Tragic, yes, but silly for all that.
The movie also does a marvelous job of expressing the sense of futility and hopelessness over this and many other contemporary conflicts. Anyone who has witnessed the recent joint absurdities in the West Bank is acutely aware of this. Palestinians send out suicide bombers they know will provoke a military response from Israel, and Israel in turn engages in missile or helicopter attacks or military incursions into Palestinian neighborhoods that they know will provoke more suicide bombers. One is left looking at the situation not know what the solution is. Likewise, in this film, we are presented with a dilemma that we can't imagine being able to get out of. And the ending (which I won't give away), illustrates this marvelously.