No Man's Land
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Movie Reviews of No Man's Land
Movie Review: Once you see this movie it will stay with you forever
Summary: 5 Stars
Sometimes the best movies are crafted from simple concepts, leaving the screenwriter and filmmakers a much larger canvas to work with to create a film with a story which is both enriching and emotionally rewarding for its audience. NO MAN'S LAND is one such film. Winner of the 2002 Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, and the recipient of a Jury Prize at Cannes, NO MAN'S LAND is a movie which manages to cleverly send up the bleakness of war while letting the black humor complement the film as opposed to lessening its impact.This Bosnian film, written and directed by Danis Tanovic; centres around Ciki, a Bosnian troop who is wounded by enemy fire and seeks refuge in a nearby trench only to find himself trapped with one of his wounded comrades ... and one of his Serbian enemies. What makes a bad situation worse is that Ciki's ally is caught on a spring loaded bomb which wil detonate if he moves, killing all three of them, so the only option that offers hope for the trio's survival is for Ciki to trust his enemy while he goes and gets UN assistance for his friend.
It sounds like from here the film will be a huge bore: two enemy troops stuck in a trench relying on trust for survival. If this were a RAMBO movie Sly would have just contorted his facial muscles, grunted and pumped the sucker full of shells, screaming while his pecs quivered with a life of their own. But NO MAN'S LAND is more cerebral, and one of the best movies I've seen so far this year. The visual design of the movie is superb, with believable performances and a plausible yet acerbically witty script. A definate must see. For people who would avoid NO MAN'S LAND on the basis that the movie is subtitled, now's probably a good time to expand your viewing horizons a little and give this a try. I give you my 100% guarantee you won't regret it.
Movie Review: Balkans In A Nutshell
Summary: 5 Stars
Directed by Danis Tanovic, and starring one of the most popular Bosnian actors, Branko Djuric, a veteran of Yugoslavian cinema Filip Sovagovic, and Rene Bitorajac, "No Man's Land" ("Nicija Zemlja") is a great insight not only into the war in Bosnia, but also into the irony of it, as well as into the typical ex-Yugoslavian form of cinema. Danis Tanovic truly showed the Balkans in a nutshell.
Two Bosnian Muslims and two Bosnian Serbs are caught in a trench between enemy lines - in no man's land. The area is off limits to all warring parties, meaning that neither party is prepared to officially investigate the matter. Enter the United Nations, popularly known in Bosnia as the Smurfs (due to blue helmets and the fact they had absolutely no power in Bosnia, in fact, they were the national laughing stock). Lulled by constantly being ignored and by constantly saying "no", the UN is confused as to what to do, especially as they come into a situation in which one of the occupants of the trench might die. Originally turning their back on the entire situation, one UN peacekeeper's morals force the higher-ups into dealing with the situation through the involvement of the international media.
Excellent in its entirety, the movie is comical and tragic at the same time, educational and frustrating, hopeful and without hope. The only critique I have is that Tanovic picked Sovagovic (a Croat) to play a veteran Serb, and Sovagovic's Croatian accent is unmistakable and out of place throughout.
I highly recommend this film to everyone, period. I will end with a great quote from the film - a French peacekeeper tells a British journalist:"Not doing anything IS taking sides." Enjoy the movie.
Movie Review: An Eye Opener
Summary: 5 Stars
No Man's Land is an excellent film. Though it requires some background knowledge of the Bosnian conflict (who's right and who's wrong), it particularly sets right the involvement of the International Community. The most appealing aspect of it is that the film is not actually an idea stemming out of someone's script. The film is about the reality that Bosnia went though - each scene you watch, you feel an impact!The conflict involves Serb and Muslim soldiers trapped between the lines. What prolongs otherwise probably quick resolution to their entrapment is the third soldier lying on the mine which could explode any minute he turns over or they try to lift him up, therefore, getting all of them killed. (To correct the editorial review: it's a Muslim soldier lying on the mine, not Serb). A lot of comments exchanged between the two solders, though in reality serious, are softened and quite well "wrapped up" to suite the foreign viewers by its black-humoristic style. Danis Tanovic really deserved that Oscar!
The ending really shows again the reality of the conflict: the Muslim soldier (symbolising 250 000 killed Muslims by the Serbs under the UN embargo) gets to punish his rival, while getting himself killed, too, by the "peace keepers", whose job was left (as expected) unfinished. Rather, it was "nicely" brushed up by fooling the media while still leaving the Muslim soldier on an unexploded mine, signifying Bosnia's reality: a ticking bomb.
In short, don't miss it. It opens your eyes to the reality of the UN, and it educates on the local conflicts of the Balkans..
Movie Review: POIGNANT BATTLE LINES, SUNNY SIDE UP
Summary: 5 Stars
In the bittersweet anti-war tradition of Dr. Strangelove or Catch-22, but perhaps at a more authentic level, this bare-knuckled film isn't a great war movie because it blows your mind with gory war footage.
It's a great war movie because it's confident in its emotions. It is absurd in its unbearably tense metaphor for the insanity, stubbornness and futility of the Balkan civil wars. It is infectious in its conviction that you'll get the message anyway.
Although the plot can't and doesn't totally escape a sense of being contrived (it's almost too neat a symbol to have the kind of credibility and impact it needs) it never loses sight of the sombreness of warfare.
Instead it sets up its case poignantly within the context of its comedy, and is studded with stirring moments. E.g., when a soldier looks at the mine under his friend and in moving the man's arm brings a tightly gripped photo of his girlfriend into the frame.
It astutely shows us the impact of CNN-style media on modern warfare. The reporters relish their power and everyone is playing to the cameras: especially the U.N. brass, who are so terrified of bad publicity they're morally paralyzed.
Lastly, for a War Movie it sure is pleasant looking. Instead of the usual grungy and muddy battlefields from distant lands, it's set in a picturesque field. The cinematography is fantastic.
A crisp, riveting hour-and-a-half. I've recommended this film to practically everyone I care about.
Movie Review: must-see for any "peacekeeper" who spent time in Bosnia
Summary: 5 Stars
This compelling tale underscores the futility of war and the complete impotence of the UNPROFOR to make any difference in the civil unrest in the Balkans. The story begins as two soldiers, a war-weathered Bosnian and a rookie-soldier Serb, become stranded in a trench in "no man's land" together. The Serb's friend and fellow soldier is also in the trench, lying on top of a bouncing mine, which will detonante if he moves. The film shows the efforts of the the soldiers to elicit rescue by UNPROFOR peacekeepers. There tension and hostility between the soldiers in the trench alternate with moments of kindness, even tenderness, and genuine teamwork in their effort for rescue, until they remember that they hate each other. The French peacekeepers are ordered not to take action by their British commander, because it is too dangerous. A cunning French peacekeeper works behind the scenes, in conjunction with a BBC journalist, to pressure UNPROFOR to permit them to attempt an evacuation of the stranded soldiers. In the end, the rescue effort is to no avail and none of the three stranded soldiers are rescued alive. The movie is very real, from the Bosnian soldier's high-top basketball sneakers, the French UNPROFOR peacekeeper snoozing on duty, the Bosnian commander's lew flirting with the BBC journalist. This is a great picture, one of those movies that will come back to haunt you days after you've seen it.