No Man's Land

Pros: It's very funny and very tragic and filled with excellent performances
Cons: press stampedes are too easy a target

Filmed in Slovenia by Bosnian writer-director Danis Tanovic, "No Man’s Land" is set in Bosnia of 1993. A ragtag band of half a dozen Bosnian soldiers is lost in the fog with a guide who has never before tried to lead anyone to the Bosnian position at...

Pros: Well-written script, acting, messages portrayed
Cons: Perhaps too realistic

Many people, myself included, tend to forget that there is a whole other filming world other than Hollywood. Because of the impact Hollywood has had on the movie industry, it has to be said that European, Asian and even Canadian films get only half the...

Pros: Great story, lots of symbolism
Cons: Sad...very sad

No Man’s Land is a foreign film about the war between the Bosnians and Serbians. Like all great war movies, it is packed full of metaphors and irony. It won the 2002 Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, among numerous other awards. The ...

Pros: Taut drama, sophisticated humor, good performances, intelligent message, excellent cinematography
Cons: Hollywood seldom does as well

No Man’s Land, directed by Danis Tanovic, won the 2001 Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category as well as the Golden Globe. It also took the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. It is a highly intelligent film, ...

Pros: Absurd, funny, clever, memorable, beautifully balanced, fresh war satire.
Cons: None to speak of.

NO MAN'S LAND- BEST OF 2001

No Man's Land is the best film of the year. Remarkably this balancing act of dark comedy, satire, and warm absurdist drama is the first feature film of writer and director Danis Tanovic. The film has been winning...

Pros: great dialogue, unique depiction of war
Cons: I hoped for something educational on the DVD

My family has a vested interest in Bosnian culture and history since my wife is a native of Sarajevo and lived through the war as a young girl. Naturally a movie by Bosnians about Bosnia held great interest for us especially when it got accolades as ...

Pros: A wonderful film by a new director.
Cons: It's a war movie, so there is killing and sadness. Yet...

It is often the sad fate of foreign films to be relegated to limited art house venues solely because lazy and illiterate Americans have an aversion to subtitles. About a year ago, I recall asking someone who was an otherwise serious film buff—another...

Pros: cynical humour, absurdity of the situation.
Cons: violence, few positive characters.

I’m not very familiar with a lot of the intricacies of any war, and movies probably aren’t the best medium to become educated in such things. Films are much better at the personalities and the external events, but at the very least, a good film about a...

Pros: funny in an uncomfortable sort of way, shows the ludicrousness of war
Cons: the biggest con would have to be reading subtitles

It's the middle of the night. The air is thick with fog, and there is not a sound to be heard. A Croatian relief squad is making its way onto a battlefield to replace some of their worn troops. It's the middle of the 1993 Bosnian/Serbian conflict. The...

Pros: Easy to follow, funny and tragic at the same time
Cons: Some scenes a bit too lengthy

Directed by Danis Tanovic, and starring one of the most popular Bosnian actors, Branko Djuric, a veteran of Yugoslavian cinema Filip Sovagovic, and Rene Bitorajac, "No Man's Land" ("Nicija Zemlja") is a great insight not only into the war in Bosnia, but ...