No Man's Land (2001)

Starring: Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic
Director: Danis Tanovic

Rating: NR

Studio: United Artists/MGM

Review Posted: 4.10.01

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 3.5/4

By Angelo.

In what should have been the most predictable category in this year’s Oscar race, the French phenomenon that was “Amelie” was the shoo-in winner in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Every publication that I read which posted its predictions and odds-on favorites all pointed to that cute French girl with a spoon in one hand and worldwide box office success in the other. It was her night…until the winner was announced.

“And the winner is…’No Man’s Land’.

In one of Oscar night’s most surprising upsets, the little film from Bosnia and Herzegovina beat out the French juggernaut, and much deservedly so, if I may say.

Set during the height of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, the film takes us right smack down in the middle of the confrontation…literally. A Bosnian soldier, Chiki and a Serb fighter, Nino inadvertently find themselves stranded in the same trench between the two main opposing camps, in an area referred to as “no man’s land”. Unable to return to their respective groups in fear of enemy fire (or worse, getting shot by their own side), the two men must have to deal with each other whether they like it or not, face to face in a narrow ditch in the ground.

I really don’t know a whole lot when it comes to this war besides the fact that ethnic disputes are what sparked it. “No Man’s Land” is not the film that will go and delve into the specifics of the Bosnian war however. What the movie is concerned with is not what caused the conflict, but rather it is more interested in showing the absurdity of the situation. War is already at hand so why bother with what caused it and who started it. In one scene, the two men argue about this very issue, and of course they blame the other side. Nothing is accomplished until one of them takes out his gun, and the other man hesitantly concedes. Funny how power and “truth” comes hand in hand.

Unlike other war movies which aim to show the horrors of war, “No Man’s Land” confidently agrees that this is already a given. There are scenes that show the brutality of warfare, but the movie does not dwell on this. The tension between the two men is the embodiment of the war itself. They bicker, wrestle and hurt each other with every blink of the eye. Interestingly enough, in a poignant scene, the two men discover that they have known the same woman in the past, and their “degree of separation” momentarily unites them in a sense of brotherhood. Nevertheless, the pettiness sets in and their neighborly demeanor quickly dissipates.

The film also has an amusing take on the world’s attitude about the whole thing, as can be seen from the representation of the United Nations forces. The Bosnians and the Serbs call upon these U.N. soldiers (who are considered neutral) to fetch the two men from no man’s land, but the rescue mission is laughable. The U.N. is an indecisive bureaucracy, which reduces itself to a passive observer rather than live up to its purpose of humanitarianism. This is eerily reflected in a running situation in the film where a man is lying on the ground on top of a mine. If he gets up or is moved, the mine is triggered and everything within fifty yards is obliterated. The way the U.N. handles this situation (which I will not disclose assuredly) is almost comical yet unnerving.

It is a human comedy on warfare, makes an uncompromising mockery of the U.N. and a drama that goes to the essence of the conflict. “No Man’s Land” is not your typical war film, but as good as the memorable ones.

Film is Rated R for violence and language. Bosnian, Croatian, English, French, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, with subtitles in English.

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