Rating: 
Summary: No Man's Land is a winner
Review: Eschewing the well-worn path of filmed fighting and choosing to embark on a mission of spotlighting international bureaucracy, director Brank Djuric shines in "No Man's Land" at a radiance brighter than any other war movie in recent memory. The movie grabs its backdrop from the warm years of conflict in the so-called "powder-keg" of Europe -- the Balkans -- and thrusts two individuals from each side into a stew of regret, fighting, and an increasingly awful awareness that they are more alike each other than each had suspected. A black comedy designed to make the viewer think more about the vagaries of war and less about the particulars of the Bosnian/Serb conflict, it deeply uncovers the fact that war has almost always been a tool for leaders, rather than simply one dispatched upon by individuals. Further scenes highlight a chain of humanity that is consistently broken by the forces of power politics that accompany any modern-day war. Given different circumstances and different propaganda, sharing a lager in Belgrade would not have been hard to see. But that is not to be. What "No Man's Land" highlights so much better than the sappy "Saving Private Ryan" or obtuse "The Thin Red Line" is that, when geopolitics are being played on a grand chessboard, it never truly will. Not many leaders really mind about the pawns.
Rating: 
Summary: classic Balkan black comedy
Review: This film is full of brilliant absurd and black comedy, and a powerful metaphor of the Yugoslavian conflict that's as much about the local warring parties (Bosnians and Serbs, in this case) as about the galling hypocrisy and cowardice of the Western Europeans (esp. the French and British) who used the U.N. as cover for doing nothing amid all the carnage. As historical and political education, this film should be seen in high school and college classes across the nation. I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars only because the film editing should've/could've been better...the first 15 minutes are pretty slow getting off the ground. Better camera work and sound would've made this film much more visceral and hard-hitting...then again, I'm sure the director didn't exactly enjoy a Hollywood budget. BTW, there's really no reason to buy the DVD instead of the VHS version...the DVD version has zero extras, except for the theatrical trailer and choice of subtitles.
Rating:
Summary: THERE IS NO CIVIL WAR
Review: The story told is somewhat old,
In every war it may have happened,
Two members of the hateful hordes,
Between the warring lines are stranded. What differs this from all before
Is painful twist - the wounded other,
The modern mine, which lays beneath
Would blow all in one disaster. They go from the hate to friendship,
They kill each other in the end,
The film builds hope, anticipation,
The sense of humor really helped. The worst of tragedies had happened,
When brothers, neighbors, closest friends,
Spilled blood, religion instigated,
The Civil War put them to test. The film is good but shy a little,
There are no bloody, ghastly scenes,
It tells the story, Wars - not Civil,
This film is worth of being seen.
Rating:
Summary: Futility.....
Review: This superb little film has justly been extolled as a vivid look at the agony and futility of the Bosnian war. Told with dark humor, and with an unforgettable central metaphor illustrating the paralysis of action when faced with an insolvable dilemma, this film is realistic while delineating the aburdity of it all. We get the two former neighbors that knew the same girl, and by any measure should be friends, unable to keep peace amongst themselves long enough to allow a third man in a terrible predicament to be saved. We have French UN peacekeepers frustrated because they can't keep any kind of peace. We have UN commanders doing anything they can to avoid an action or a decision. We have media anxious to get the story and we have everyone lieing to everyone else. And in the middle of it all we have one poor...with the worst luck imagineable. The random unfairness of war is what we have, drawn in swift and sure strokes by someone who (I would imagine) has seen it all first hand. Told impartially, there are no heroes here, there are no sides taken, and we are left in the end with the a last and final haunting image that is nothing but pure futility. No move is a good move, no action is a right action, and the absurdity of the situation is only surpassed by its tragic & cruel irony. Tough and true reporting from the frontlines. Well worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Not your typical Hollywood generic ... war movie.
Review: This movie is really good, because it does not follow the typical Hollywood formula. If you want something different and unpredictable, you should check out this movie. It is about the war in Bosnia and the U.N. peacekeepers. It is subtitled in English.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Metaphor
Review: Bosnia, laying on a landmine unable to move, about to be blown to pieces, while the Bosniak and Serb squabble stupidly, shooting each other for trifles, stabbing each other for mindless hate. This movie is a powerful metaphor for the 1992-1995 war that, indeed, blew Bosnia to pieces. Bosnia, caught in an empty No Man's Land. In the beginning it was just the Bosniaks and Serbs and Croats down in the hole, nobody else paid attention. Then came the UN with their empty-headed platitudes and unwillingness to do the hard work required to stop the war. Then came the press, generally well-meaning and sporadically courageous, but cursed with a short attention span, an addiction to prurient images, and an inability to truly understand the depths of the conflict and what lay beyond the visual images. This was the war. Finally, the UN left, then the press left. And there lay Bosnia, prostrate in the sun and blown to pieces.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic as well as a metaphor on the absurdity of war
Review: Academy Award winner in 2002 for Best Foreign Film, this film about the recent war between the Bosnians and Serbs is not only grimly realistic, it is also is a metaphor on the absurdity of war in general. When two soldiers from opposing forces become trapped in a trench together, the seriousness of the situation escalates when a third wounded soldier, at first presumed dead, is actually alive. Problem is that he has been placed on a mine that will kill them all if he is moved. And, as the soldiers argue, it becomes clear that the one with the gun is the one who will always win the argument. Eventually, the UN becomes involved and the absurdity thickens. There were parts in the film where I laughed out loud, as the grim realism of the constant power struggles that are endemic to human nature are explored. The titles were in English so I could follow the film, but one of the themes was that everyone spoke a different language, further complicating the matter. There's the British diplomat, the French U.N. troops, the German land mine expert, and the three soldiers trapped in their outrageous situation. The soldiers had a lot in common, speaking the same language and even had some common memories of a local girl they both knew. And the scene is indeed comical when, in order to alert the U.N. officials to their situation, they both take off their uniforms and wave white flags. But they are sworn enemies and want to kill each other also. The acting is outstanding, with actors from that particular area of the world. But the screenplay itself its one of the best I have ever scene. Every bit of dialogue moved the action forward and was layered with meanings that went far beyond the situation. The setting didn't require huge special effects and could actually be turned into a stage play although it might be hard to stage it in so many languages, as this "tower of Babel" kind of language confusion was one of the central themes of the film. This film is destined to join the ranks of some of the greatest symbolic war films of all time, including "The Red Badge of Courage" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." However, as this is a modern film, it includes the irony and absurdity that represent our culture today. I give this film my highest recommendation. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opener
Review: No Man's Land is an excellent film. Though it requires some background knowledge of the Bosnian conflict (who's right and who's wrong), it particularly sets right the involvement of the International Community. The most appealing aspect of it is that the film is not actually an idea stemming out of someone's script. The film is about the reality that Bosnia went though - each scene you watch, you feel an impact! The conflict involves Serb and Muslim soldiers trapped between the lines. What prolongs otherwise probably quick resolution to their entrapment is the third soldier lying on the mine which could explode any minute he turns over or they try to lift him up, therefore, getting all of them killed. (To correct the editorial review: it's a Muslim soldier lying on the mine, not Serb). A lot of comments exchanged between the two solders, though in reality serious, are softened and quite well "wrapped up" to suite the foreign viewers by its black-humoristic style. Danis Tanovic really deserved that Oscar! The ending really shows again the reality of the conflict: the Muslim soldier (symbolising 250 000 killed Muslims by the Serbs under the UN embargo) gets to punish his rival, while getting himself killed, too, by the "peace keepers", whose job was left (as expected) unfinished. Rather, it was "nicely" brushed up by fooling the media while still leaving the Muslim soldier on an unexploded mine, signifying Bosnia's reality: a ticking bomb. In short, don't miss it. It opens your eyes to the reality of the UN, and it educates on the local conflicts of the Balkans..
Rating:
Summary: Easily One of the Best Films I have Seen
Review: The events in the country that was once Yugoslavia have been so reprehensible and on such a scale, they have produced trials for war crimes reminiscent of World War II. To produce a film while some criminals are still being sought, about human behavior so vile, is not as easy task. The creator's of, "No Man's Land", have accomplished this, and deserve appropriate recognition. The preview for this film suggested a certain amount of humor, while there is some measure in the film, it is either produced by one person demanding a response while pointing a gun at another, or during a situation so grim, black humor does not begin to accurately describe it. The idea of enemy soldiers finding themselves facing each other in a fox hole, or in this case a trench is not new. These previous books and films generally describe a process of commonality that develops between the soldiers about the stupidity of their fighting one another. During one Christmas in World War I, opposing forces celebrated the holiday together, sharing meals and playing soccer, before once again returning to the slaughter of trench warfare. This film introduces a new element to the concept, and this is the role of international peacekeepers in the form of United Nations Soldiers. This film demonstrates why the United Nations is so inept, not only as a concept, but completely incompetent to play any meaningful role in peacekeeping. This film was not made in The United States, nor financed by an American company. This is a European group condemning The United Nations, so for those who like to point the finger at The US, this time they will have to look elsewhere. These, "peacekeepers", are sent to countries to maintain order, and by so doing are asked to risk their lives and the lives of others for countries they usually have no relationship with, and care very little about. This film shows a primarily French force as well as a British commander, and a German specialist. None of the UN members speak any of the languages that are spoken by the combatants. None of the members could care less about what these combatants do to one another. Anyone who doubts that comment need only watch the final event in the film. The closing scene goes beyond any brutality portrayed by traditional wars, for what is shown is total international apathy for those fighting in the country. Hatred is something that can be understood, total apathy for other human beings as portrayed in this film goes beyond hatred, to hate you must make an effort, apathy by definition requires virtually nothing at all. No crime committed by the fragments of the former Yugoslavia surpasses the actions by The UN forces. The United Nations is useless at best, and as this film demonstrates, the UN can become a participant in the violence they are supposed to stop. The same attitude has been repeated in Rwanda, and virtually anywhere else the UN has been sent to sit on their hands and do nothing. When they do venture from their own spots of safety it is to become little more than targets to be shot at. The United Nations is a utopian fantasy based on the idea that the member nations share common interests and goals. Its existence presupposes that the values, ethics, and social mores of every member nation are identical, that we all live as world citizens with just as much interest in the well being of every other individual on this planet as we do for ourselves. For this to be true the world would have to be so homogenous that you would have trouble distinguishing a citizen from one country from another. The idea is pure rubbish. The fact that the United Nations building stands on land once occupied by a slaughterhouse is not only a nice bit of irony, but also appropriate. It is a bit of real estate that would command high prices for residences which would provide income to New York in the form of taxes instead of being he charity that our federal government pours endless streams of dollars by the hundreds of millions. The United Nations will never be more than a nuisance, a monument for dreamers, and a theater of the absurd for members that often have nothing more in common than the contempt they share for each other. Their values, ethical standards and goals are not only different, they are often in opposition. So as some members sit near one another, at home their countrymen slaughter each other. The human race has a very long way to evolve before people in one country treat their fellow citizens well, much less start to care about cultures that are alien to them.
Rating:
Summary: Deserved The Award
Review: This is a great movie with several messeges. For one it shows the absurdity of war in a very clever way. Also it brilliantlly demonstrates how the media exploits war. The characters are all well developed, the script is top notch, the pace is perfect, the acting is surprisingly excellent as well. Give it a chance, I don't see how you could regret it.
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