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Pretty Village, Pretty Flame

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lepa Sela, Lepo Gore
Review: Just a fantastik movie that shows the reallity of the war in Bosnia. Very unbiased and helpful to those who don't understand the history of different ethnic backgrounds in Bosnia. I believe that this movie was one of the greatest war movies ever made. As good as The Full Metal Jacket. The movie really shows how war can split up the best friends and have them fight against each other. I think it's a must see movie for everybody especially for the people from former Yugoslavia. To the people familiar with the actors from former Yugoslavia, this movie has got it all: Dragan Bjelogrlic, Nikola Kojo, Bata Zivoinovic and much more. Just an Awesome Movie. SUPER FILM.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great film, but transfer incompatible with WS TVs!
Review: Make no mistake, this is a superb film, worthy of four or five stars in itself. But what we have to review here is this particular DVD transfer of the film, and that is what my poor rating reflects.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned a basic problem with the transfer, which is in 4:3 mode with a 1.78 aspect ratio (ie non-anamorphic). That's not so serious in itself, although an anamorphic transfer would have allowed a sharper picture when the film is viewed on a widescreen television, and optimum resolution whatever the TV.

What is fatal for anyone with a widescreen TV, or who will in the future own such a TV, is that the second line of the subtitles is placed in the matte area of the screen. That means that when the DVD is viewed optimally on a widescreen TV, that second line of the subtitles disappears outside the TV frame.

To see the subtitles on a widescreen TV, the film must be viewed in 4:3 mode, with black bars on all four sides taking up 44% of the screen space! The usual practice is that subtitles are placed within the film frame, and then this problem doesn't exist.

The type of transfer presented here is simply unsuitable for viewing on a 16:9 screen, for no apparent reason except the effort required to do the job properly. I have been disappointed with transfers before, but this is the first I actually regret buying. In this case, it would be better to watch the film on digital broadcast.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: awesome!
Review: one of the best movies I have ever see

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If the bullets won't get you, time will
Review: One of the few movies that actually will trouble your morals and ethics. Will surely make you think closely of what an armed conflict really brings. And since I come from a country that tasted war recently and still does, I believe this movie touched me more than the average. If you ever watch it, pay attention to the starting scene. The tuneel that unites Serbia and Croatia, where the whole movie takes place. Notice how the opening ceremony ends... Notice every little detail, watch the movie as many times as you can, don't loose a single second. All the images count, all the words have a meaning.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No luck with this one
Review: Politically motivated movies are fine, but they can be done more subtle. I don't think this movie is any good in that sense. The Serbian director is trying to present Serbian Army as being attacked, but we all know what happened in Bosnian conflict. Good luck next time.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A potentially good movie lost in its bias
Review: Predictable and stale, except for its blatant bias, "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame" was a major disappointment. Before commenting on the movie, I would like to note that there are not a lot of reasons to buy this in DVD, which I did. The picture is fine, but the source copy must have been far from good or its was filmed on the cheap--washed out colors and too dark night scenes. The sound is not impressive, and there are no real extras on the disc. As to the movie, first, and perhaps foremost, although this is an anti-war movie, it is also a pro-Serbian account of what happend in Bosnia. One could easily come away thinking that the Serbs were not the ones who started "ethic cleansing". Despite this mendacious approach to the story, the movie itself could still have been compelling--the impact of an ethnic war on boyhood friends, Serb and Muslim. However, the movie plays out in a very predicatble fashion, with very predictable members of the Serbian "squad", not unlike what one expects from a U.S. war movie. There is not lot that is special about this, although some of the performances are fine and the music is good. But there is simply nothing especially compelling about the way the movie plays out or the way that it was put together. But for me at least, it was almost impossible to get beyond the blatant pro-Serbian content of the movie--yes, war is bad, but blame it on the Muslims, not the Serbs, which certainly dilutes the anti-war message.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A potentially good movie lost in its bias
Review: Predictable and stale, except for its blatant bias, "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame" was a major disappointment. Before commenting on the movie, I would like to note that there are not a lot of reasons to buy this in DVD, which I did. The picture is fine, but the source copy must have been far from good or its was filmed on the cheap--washed out colors and too dark night scenes. The sound is not impressive, and there are no real extras on the disc. As to the movie, first, and perhaps foremost, although this is an anti-war movie, it is also a pro-Serbian account of what happend in Bosnia. One could easily come away thinking that the Serbs were not the ones who started "ethic cleansing". Despite this mendacious approach to the story, the movie itself could still have been compelling--the impact of an ethnic war on boyhood friends, Serb and Muslim. However, the movie plays out in a very predicatble fashion, with very predictable members of the Serbian "squad", not unlike what one expects from a U.S. war movie. There is not lot that is special about this, although some of the performances are fine and the music is good. But there is simply nothing especially compelling about the way the movie plays out or the way that it was put together. But for me at least, it was almost impossible to get beyond the blatant pro-Serbian content of the movie--yes, war is bad, but blame it on the Muslims, not the Serbs, which certainly dilutes the anti-war message.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wake them up
Review: Pretty good attempt to awaken normal spirits, souls and heads with brain left in the Balkans to stop pointing fingers at one another make the final closure and move forward for the benefit of populous that remains in the Balkan region....will it succeed, well time will tell...will they be allowed? ...hmm ask international media and governments like the one in DC or London or...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A higher truth
Review: Pretty Village Pretty Flame is a stunning achievement. The director does not feel the need to spell his message out, but simply portray what war does to his sympathetic protagonists. Because these people are warm, laconic, funny - better company than most film characters, their deaths or the destruction of their personalities hurt all the more. The stream of flashbacks keeps the narrative fresh and compelling.

It's a Serbian-made film, and the bulk of the atrocities committed against people in the film are inflicted on Bosnian Serbs by Muslims (although we hear references to the torture to death of Muslim soldiers). But if you can read this film as a celebration of the Serbian cause - from the initial dedication to "the film industry of a country which no longer exists" to the vast line of bodies at the end - having seen its cynical depiction of the Serb home front, you've been spending too much time watching brainless blockbusters. Yes, it's shown from a Serb point of view, but the film pulls no punches and the Muslims we meet are as lost and human as the Serbs.

(incidentally, to another reviewer, the film is about the breakup of Bosnia, not Serbia)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An amazing, haunting movie
Review: Pretty Village, Pretty Flame contains so many tiny, connecting threads, so many subtle details, so much underlying meaning...it demands to be watched and rewatched. The scenes it depicts are terrible and gruesome and at times very funny, imbuing the horror with bits of humanity. It is an awesome film.


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