No Man's Land

Saw the Bosnian movie "No Man's land" yesterday. If U haven't heard about it, its the movie that pipped Lagaan to win the Oscar for the best foreign lanuage film in 2001. Its a film about the war between Bosnia and Serbia. Thought its a war movie, don't expect epic war scenes except for some odd shoot outs. What sets it apart is the lighter vein in which big issues are commented upon. It captures the travails of 3 men from either side caught in no man's land. One of them is lying injured on a mine, which will explode if he moves. A UN team is sent to rescue them. This movie actually makes fun of the ineffective UN, which has failed to live up to its name in times of crisis. The media which is hungry for breaking news is also made fun of. The exchanges between the 2 enemy soldiers are hilarious. The scene in which the Bosnian point a gun at the Serbian to make him say that his country started the war. And then after sometime, its the turn of the the Serbian to make the Bosnian say the same.

The movie has some great quotes.
Here are some samples(courtesy-IMDB)

1."A bomb disposal expert only makes one mistake in his life."
"Two."
"Two?"
"The first one is choosing the fucking job!"

2.Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral.

3.The guy from UN talking to a serbian soldier.

Sgt. Marchand: Vous parlez francais?
Serb private: No.
Sgt. Marchand: Do you speak English?
Serb private: Yes.
Sgt. Marchand: We came for people.
Serb private: Yes.
Sgt. Marchand: People between lines.
Serb private: Yes, yes.
Sgt. Marchand: Where are they?
Serb private: Yes, yes, yes.
Sgt. Marchand: Ok, you don't understand a word of what I'm saying, right?
Serb private: Yes.



Also lookout for some breathtaking scenery of Slovenia, where this movie was filmed.

Still, I think Lagaan deserved an Oscar more than this film.

your crusader Praveen