No Man's Land
2001 Directed by Danis Tanović
Synopsis
Two soldiers from opposite sites get stuck between the frontlines in the same trenche. The UN is asked to free them and both sides agree on a seizefire, but will they stick to it?
Cast
Popular reviews
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I read somewhere that No Man's Land, winner of the 2002 Best Foreign Language Film will make me look at conflict in a whole new light. That the film is of such rare quality, yada yada yada.
I have absolutely no idea where such thoughts come from, maybe plucked out of thin air I dunno. What I know if that this is no masterpiece. It's average and at times it borders on stupidity, or was that comedy.
Not the best anti war film I have ever seen by a long, long stretch of the imagination and I'm seriously puzzled by all the fuss and the hype. Especially, as I can list 10 superior anti war films off the top of my head.
The Oscar should have gone to Amélie, it's blatantly a much better film, in every aspect. There's clearly politics at work.
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An amazing movie a lot black humor and an underlying anti-war message. All told with a simple anecdote that serves as a perfect metaphor of the larger conflict.
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A very plausible war story combined with a satirical onslaught on the futility of war. A real screamer this one, you cannot help but be awed at the extent of diplomatic inefficiency and incompetency. Darn good!
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Another one of those movies that I know I saw, but am unable to remember anything specific about.
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No Man's Land is the 2002 Foreign Language Academy Award winning film from Bosnia-Herzegovina, by director Danis Tanovic. It tells the story of a Bosnian and a Serb caught between the two lines, and unable to convince either side to let them out. It is an interesting take on the "War is Stupid" theme, and shows in a nutshell just how crazy that ugly conflict got.
Chiki is part of a relief squad being led through the night and fog to the Serbian lines. They decide to halt until the sun comes up and, you guessed it, they find themselves right in the middle of the two lines, in No Man's Land. The Bosnians open fire with rifles and a…
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Despite the absences of special effects like those used in "Saving Private Ryan", "The Thin Red Line" or "Pearl Harbour", No Man's Land" touched many issues in a single stage. Honestly, I hate movies that try to explain the necessity of a war because wars, for me, need no explanations, no matter at what cause you fight, winning and losing doesn't really matter since there will be casualties. Representing European cinema, Danis Tanovic seems incredible in his efforts to criticize the internal organization of the peacekeepers, the ferocity of the press of war, the brutality of war, the stupidity of the origin of the conflict, the incomprehensible attitude of some soldiers and many more.
What can you expect from three…
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Because No Man’s Land is so mechanized (“You mean a Bosnian and a Serb are trapped in a trench? Together? Just think of the possibilities!”), I spent at least half the movie wondering why it was played with such a painfully uniform rhythm. Later, I realized why: No Man’s Land is confused: it can’t decide whether or not it wants to be an allegory or an sensationalized, absurd account of wartime attitudes. Topping this off with the self-congratulatory inclusion of the all-encompassing, unconscionably dumbass bureaucracy of the UN (in particular); here's yet another film where peacekeeping brass say things like (paraphrasing here) “We can’t help these people for reasons too complicated for you to understand, you world cop grunt”). We're…
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Works as both a study of humanity and the arbitrary ways in which we separate ourselves, and as a compelling war drama. Great stuff.
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War, Yugoslavia, Drama, Foreign Film, Bosnia
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I read somewhere that No Man's Land, winner of the 2002 Best Foreign Language Film will make me look at conflict in a whole new light. That the film is of such rare quality, yada yada yada.
I have absolutely no idea where such thoughts come from, maybe plucked out of thin air I dunno. What I know if that this is no masterpiece. It's average and at times it borders on stupidity, or was that comedy.
Not the best anti war film I have ever seen by a long, long stretch of the imagination and I'm seriously puzzled by all the fuss and the hype. Especially, as I can list 10 superior anti war films off the top of my head.
The Oscar should have gone to Amélie, it's blatantly a much better film, in every aspect. There's clearly politics at work.