In the Name of Father and Son (1999) User Reviews

Too many prejudices.

[mila271 · 1/10 · 4 April 2012]

This movie was surprise to me, because it is easy to understand it has huge political background, and hard to believe script. Whole story is very hard to believe in, very naive. Father and mother are trying to hide their son in the attic not to be drafted in JNA (Yugoslav People's Army back then in early 90's) And JNA was regular army, and not half- regular or semi-regular or whatever it is tried to depict in this movie. Everybody who live in former Yugoslavia, know that it was country sort of ''half-socialsim and half-capitalism'' and that it was not communist country at all. Dictator Tito gained all the power and created artificial borders between so called ''republics'' and ''autonomous provinces'' which was his dictatorship way and mean to keep various nations under his Marxist boot, to rule like a czar and to put thousands of innocent people (mainly Serbs and other non-Croats) in prisons and he even organized special gulag-type Stalinist concentration camp called ''Goli otok'' But non of it is shown in this movie, just naive and poor cinematography, with strong anti-Serb and anti-Montenegrin view, and generally to say, anti-Yugoslav view, because - just Serbs and Montenegrins are ridiculed here. Shown as attackers, shown as semi- Christian people (Just see the scene on the graveyard, which is totally unfair towards Orthodox Christian religion) It is hard to believe that lot of people will believe in what is shown in this, I dare to say, Goebels type of propaganda. There is many better movies about war in former Yugoslavia. Actually, this is not a war movie, too. This movie has a general problem, what sort of movie it is, at all? It is not a satire, not a comedy, although it has lots of its elements. It is not a action movie, it is, at the end, drama, but drama which spread lots of badly shown scene, acting is generally good, but the script is prevailing in its naiveness and is too idle, too hoax, for every person who was once proud to be a Yugoslav. Yugoslavia was not a perfect country, but it does not deserve to be treated that badly. I thought to give 3 for the sake of good acting, but I gave 1 because of the poor script and many prejudices in this movie. I live once in Yugoslavia, but this movie is far from the truth. Too many prejudices and false statements depicted.