No Man's Land

Danis Tanovic, Bosnia-Herzegovina / Slovenia / Italy / France / UK / Belgium, 2001, 98 minutes

Winner of the Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars in 2002 (beating Amelie), No Man’s Land is a remarkable debut triumph from writer/director Danis Tanovic. Set in the Bosnian Serbian war of the early nineties, the land in question is a trench in between the front lines of the two warring sides, no man’s. After an ambush, two Bosnian soldiers and one Serbian soldier end up trapped in the trench, a tense situation enhanced by the fact that one of the Bosnians is lying on a "jumping" mine that will explode and kill all three of them if he gets off it. And to make matters worse, they'll probably be shot if they emerge from the trench to get help as both front lines are on edge. Bickering about who started the war and who is right and who is wrong, the soldiers eventually collaborate to risk getting shot to get help. As a result, the UN get involved as does the bloodthirsty media.

What ensues is a delightful blend of black humour, satire and political statement. Don't get me wrong, this is not just a barrel of laughs, what first appears to be an absurd situation becomes very believable and horrifying as the soldiers are ignored first by their own people and then by the UN. Is this a war film? Yes and no, yes in the fact that it is set in a war, and no, it is not entirely about fighting, but more a story of the victims of circumstance.

The acting is brilliant, and Tanovic's direction is at times stunningly beautiful and also at times disturbing and uncomfortable. The humour sometimes allows us to forget the severity of the soldiers' predicament but we are quickly reminded. At the end of the day, this is a fantastic film which fully deserved its Oscar recognition.

Review by Steph Wright
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003