No Man’s Land (2001)
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No Man’s Land Movie Review
No Man’s Land is a 2001 Bosnian war film directed by Danis Tanovic. It’s a surprisingly strong Oscar winner, and a refreshing movie by all means.
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“Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder.
Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing.
It is not being neutral“
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I had expected the worst from this movie as it won an Oscar and it was made in Bosnia so I expected Anti-Serbian propaganda. Imagine my surprise when I witnessed something completely opposite. Yes, this movie is above all else a critique of any war, and in particular the foolishness and unnecessary nature of Bosnian war. It succeeds as a powerful anti-war film.
My main problem with this movie is its disparate nature. The first half revolves almost entirely around these two men, one a Bosnian and the other a Bosnian Serb. And the other half introduces the foreign storyline. They felt disparate from each other and not particularly well meshed together.
I also found the relationship between the two men underdeveloped as were their characters. The performances are fine across the board, and the conflict itself is well realized, but still I wanted more drama and much more dialogue in regards to that story.
But the film shines in its much more interesting second half. This is where all of its greatest sentiments come from. The film basically portrays the West responsible for this conflict, and in particular the Americans for orchestrating it and making the narrative out of it. The fact that it won an Oscar by the American Academy is puzzling to me, but in such a pleasant way.
Also, the French and other Europeans who came to “help” the cause were portrayed horribly for the most part as cold, uninterested and basically the scene where they show a man lying on a mine and how the humanitarians don’t care all that much is immensely powerful and heartbreaking. And also the film satirizes so well them not knowing what in the hell are they even doing on this territory.
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No Man’s Land is a simple movie technically speaking, not all that polished nor memorable in imagery. But there is no denying the strong direction from Danis Tanovic and good acting performances throughout. It won an Oscar surprisingly so and I think the Academy should be congratulated for honoring such a film.
No Man’s Land is structurally disparate and much less interesting in the first half, but the second half is so powerful as the movie so tragically showcases how the foreign influences have basically shaped and built the Bosnian war. The movie thus succeeds as a surprisingly strong anti-war vehicle where this conflict in particular is portrayed as foolishly unnecessary and orchestrated by other nations.
