In association with

No Man's Land [2002]
from Momentum Pictures
starring Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis, Serge-Henri Valcke
directed by Danis Tanovic

Features:

• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

A brilliant take on the tragedy that beset his country, Danis Tanovic's directorial debut No Man's Land is a bleak comedy set during the war in Bosnia. The story begins as a group of Bosnian soldiers emerge from a fog to realise that they have strayed into a thin strip of land unclaimed by either side in the conflict. A bloody sequence of events ensues, which results in a disputed trench being occupied by weathered Bosnian veteran Branko Djuric and his opposite number, Rene Bitorajac's Serbian greenhorn. There's a standoff between them, complicated by Djuric's injured colleague lying atop a "bouncing mine". He's a human booby trap--move him and the everything within 50 yards will be blown sky-high. As the blue-hatted, ineffectual UN are called in, and with the world's media, led by the late Katrin Cartlidge as a rather snotty BBC reporter, swiftly arriving on the scene, this single trench becomes an almost Beckettian metaphor for the war.

Tanovic is not especially concerned with taking sides in the Bosnian-Serb conflict. Whatever its causes, both sides are seen to be as bad, or more accurately as desperate, as each other. That it's hard, for outsiders in particular, to tell who's who much of the time only heightens the irony. There's anger at the media intrusiveness ("Does our misery pay well?" screams Djuric at the reporters), but what's really conveyed is a sense of the absurdity, futility and intractability of war, as summarised in the final image. From the grotesque mess of conflict, Tanovic has fashioned a perfectly judged and beautifully executed movie.

On the DVD: No Man's Land is presented in widescreen with a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. There are no extras, other than an English language option for the hard of hearing. --David Stubbs

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Not as good as expected
  I had expected this to be far better than it actually was. After a promising start, the action became a bit contrived, especially with the introduction of the English journalist. She was one annoying character among many - including, unfortunately, the two main protagonists. I thought that the satire, and the conclusion, were a bit clunky and cumbersome, and the film could have been far more deftly put together, or funnier, or both.
  Overall, not a particularly witty or substantial treatment of an... more info

• An apt metaphor
  
  I thought this was an excellent and thought provoking film. Although it's humorous and light in tone, it nevertheless managed to convey the tragedy of the Bosnian conflict and the horrors of civil war. The final scene is an apt metaphor for the war and the (criminal) impotence of the UN in the face of a conflict they could not comprehend.

• Tragic & funny.
  I've just watched this film on T.V. and would agree with the other reviewers that is an wonderful film about the bosnian - serbian war. I especially rememeber the French U.N. soldier saying to the B.B.C. reporter " You can't be impartial in the face of murder."
  I'm not someone who watches war films or violent films but this I only started watching by accident and I'm so glad I did as I'm now going to be buying a few copies to give as gifts, it's one of the best films I've seen.

• entertaining
  This is a good entertaining movie. It shows how ridiculous wars can be and the ineffective abilities of the UN. Good stark end.

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