Film Reviews

No Man's Land

• Rating:
• Director: Danis Tanovic.
• Starring: Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic Simon Callow.
• Details: Bos and Herz / 98 mins / (15PG).

The winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars, 'No Man's Land' is a sombre moral tale on the foibles of war. Set in 1993 during the Bosnian/ Serbian conflict, two warring soldiers, a Bosnian, Ciki and a Serbian, Nino find themselves trapped in the middle of no man's land. Their situation is exacerbated by the presence of another Bosnian, Cera. His body had been booby-trapped by the Serbs who placed him in a bouncing mine. Now, if he moves, Cera will not only kill himself, but also Ciki and Nino. Make no mistake about it, 'No Man's Land' is an anti war film, but thankfully it doesn't adhere to many of the clichandeacute;s associated with the genre. Instead writer/director Danis Tanovic has created a comical, but bleak study of the futility of conflict. The performances are all well judged and Tanovic's unfussy style of direction gives the film a graceful edge. Admittedly, it's not perfect. Some scenes are a little misjudged and a couple of the characters are not as fleshed as they could be, but 'No Man's Land' is a very efficient and thought provoking offering.

Review by Garreth Murphy