På fremmed mark (2000) User Reviews

Some real howlers for Bosnia Vets

[TankerCMD · 5/10 · 12 January 2014]

If you're looking for a semi-factual, realistic account of what on in Bosnia, this isn't it- it's more a typical dark, nihilistic Euro film saying that all men are evil, abandon hope, etc....as the character SGT Holt states in the film, "All men are animals." That pretty much sums it up.

Three particular howlers I found unintentionally hilarious, as a US Army vet with service in Bosnia (SFOR 12): 1) Shortly after the weekend begins, Jacob and Holt are seen driving towards the hotel in Tuzla- on a beautiful, undamaged, blacktopped road. Anyone that has spent any time in Bosnia will tell you that such undamaged, pristine roads don't exist.

2) In one scene the Danish soldiers in their white armored vehicle (It's not a tank), are seen carelessly free riding and joyriding off road; the laughing driver yells, "Hold on!" You don't do that in a land full of unexploded land mines, unless you REALLY want to blow up.

3) Holt and Jacob check in at a hotel in "Tuzla"in 1995, and the building is immaculately clean inside and out, undamaged. Not the way it was in 1995; I served in Bosnia 7 months and literally did not see an undamaged building for the whole time.

The credits give some explanation- this was filmed in Estonia, not Bosnia, and it shows to anybody who has seen the country.

As a Bosnia vet, I recommend Angelina Jolie's "In The Land of Blood and Honey."

A tense modern war drama AKA "Foreign Fields"

[Bigbottomend · 29 October 2002]

SYNOPSIS: (moderate spoilers ahead)

Pa Fremmed Mark, or "Foreign Fields" as it is known in its English language incarnation, is a tense, terse war drama set in the 90s Bosnian-Serb conflict.

We follow Jacob, a young Danish UN soldier posted to Bosnia, and learn that despite being a crack shot, he doesn't have the urge to kill.

His immediate superior is Holt, a more experienced soldier, who takes Jacob under his wing. Following an incident with a drunken Serbian who Holt shoots to save Jacob, the two become friends.

Holt invites Jacob away for a special leave weekend. The two travel deep into the Bosnian countryside, there meeting up with three foreigners who are flown in by chopper - A Swede, and Englishman and his German girlfriend.

Jacob soon learns that the three have made an arrangement with Holt to go incognito into Serbian territory - to kill for the thrill of it.

The film follows their "Holiday in Bosnia" as the plan goes terribly wrong, and we are drawn along to its inevitable conclusion.

REVIEW:

This film, despite obviously being fairly low budget, has a really dark and ominous atmosphere well brought about with muted colours and well shot scenery, and strong performances from its leads. The stillness of the wartorn countryside is the perfect frame for the brief but brutal acts of violence that come with its "mercenary tourists" theme.

The publicity tells us that it comes "From the Producers of Breaking the Waves", and like that film, the pacing could seem slow to those used to faster paced action films. But this movie doesn't really qualify as an action film - it's more a thought piece about the nature of power, corruption and the dehumanising effect of war.

"Pa Fremmed Mark" or "Foreign Fields" is one of the few films that explores the Bosnian war - not as an examination of the politics of it, but using it as a backdrop for the wider themes it attempts to explore.

THE LAST WORD:

This film will not be for everybody, but it is definitely worth a look if you like darker material. 7.5/10