Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land is a particularly deep film. It takes some jabs at the UN's refusal to help Bosnian and Serb troops caught in some trenches in no man's land during the war between the two countries; the film also criticizes the story-hungry leeches that are the media. This is all done in an ultra-cartoonish style, making a UN superior (Simon Callow) a snobby fat-cat, making the soldiers in no man's land (Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, and Filip Sovagovich) tough wisecrackers, and making a reporter on the scene your typical sleazebag. The film succeeds in criticizing UN's decisions but the film's criticisms of the media are weak. However, the main reason to see this film is its stunning recreation (and reinterpretation) of the atmosphere of a battlefield. No, the film is not shot in some documentary style with blood splashed all over the lens and guts draped on every shrub; the film is made on an open field on a sunny day. As the second scene begins, we think we are about to see a pleasant experience-that is, until soldiers covered in blood enter the cheery atmosphere. This reminds me of the scene in Alain Resnais's Night and Fog, where the Narrator points out that the most innocent looking areas can be near a death camp. Why does every war film have to make us feel like we are in the Seventh Circle of Hell? Tanovic carries the story along creatively, swiftly coming up with intense and exiting situations. And the film is worth seeing for the sake of the final shot, which is jaw-dropping.
Review of No Man's Land
