Rating (1 to 10) : 4
Summary: One Serbian and one Bosnian soldier are trapped between their respective lines. Their interaction is supposed to be a symbolic representation of their conflict.
In the Bosnian conflict, a devastating and senseless civil war, two soldiers from opposite sides find themselves trapped between their respective lines. Nino, the Serbian soldier, is a fresh recruit while Ciki, the Bosnian soldier, is cynical as befitting any veteran soldier. To compound their problem, Ciki’s friend and comrade, Cera, is wounded and lying on a mine that will explode if Cera is moved. Like a microcosm of the Bosnian-Serbian conflict, neither of them can get past their mutual distrust and dislike of those on the other side, even though they speak the same language, share a similar culture, and until recently, shared a nation-state. But this is not “Hell In the Pacific” adapted for the Bosnian conflict.
The movie is part dark comedy and part commentary. It has its sardonic moments, like when a Serbian soldier, reading a newspaper, comments on how bad the situation in Rwanda is getting. It makes symbolic references about the conflict, like when Nino and Ciki argue about which side was at fault for starting the war - the answer depends on which man has a gun pointed at him. But who started it is immaterial. The uselessness and impotence of the UN peacekeeping force is sarcastically depicted as they half-heartedly try to rescue the men and defuse the mine under Cera. Yet, as the movie progresses, you start wondering what the point of the movie is. It certainly is not a documentary-based movie. Yet, for a formalistic one, it lacks direction – its black comedy only goes so far. Intermingled with the dark humor is subdued sadness; unfortunately, the script does not blend the two very well.
But there’s not much more. The movie sticks to a trite formula for foreign films – to have a tragic and pointless ending – yet, it doesn’t work because the directionless plot never builds you up to it. The drifting script prevents any sort of climax.
This is one foreign film that lacks originality. You can watch plenty of American films that are just as unoriginal so don’t waste your time trying to rent this one.