Monday, July 8, 2013

Movie of the Week – No Man’s Land

This week’s movie: No Man’s Land (2001).

Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1993, two soldiers from opposing sides, Nino and Ciki, are trapped in no man’s land. Neither side, nor the U.N., seems willing to intervene to rescue the two men. And, to make matters worse, a third soldier steps on a mine becoming a booby trap raising the stakes.

No Man’s Land is the debut film from writer-director Danis Tanovic, who also composed its score. It is also, to date, his only great film. He worked with cinematographer Walther van den Ende and production designer Dusan Milavec.

The film stars Branko Djuric and Rene Bitorajac, who are both wonderful in it, and features Simon Callow and Katrin Cartlidge in support.

Today, No Man’s Land is maybe best known as the film that won the Best Foreign Film Oscar over Amelie in 2002 – but that is unfortunate, as it is a special film that deserves all the praise it gets (though, I will concede that Amelie is better – it is personally my favorite film of the 2000s). It also won AFI’s Audience Award for Best Feature Film in addition to a Special Mention Grand Jury Prize and Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival. It is one of the greatest war dramas of the modern era and a must-see for fans of world cinema.


Trailer: Here

Available on: DVD and Streaming

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