No Man's Land (2001)

Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.

Director:

Danis Tanovic

Writer:

Danis Tanovic

Stars:

Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic

Won 1 Oscar. Another 28 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Branko Djuric	...	Ciki
Rene Bitorajac	...	Nino
Filip Sovagovic	...	Cera
Georges Siatidis	...	Marchand
Serge-Henri Valcke	...	Dubois
Sacha Kremer	...	Michel
Alain Eloy	...	Pierre
Mustafa Nadarevic	...	Old Serbian soldier
Bogdan Diklic	...	Serbian officer
Simon Callow	...	Soft
Katrin Cartlidge	...	Jane Livingstone
Tanja Ribic	...	Martha
Branko Zavrsan	...	Deminer
Djuro Utjesanovic	...	Bosnian guide
Mirza Tanovic	...	Bosnian officer

Storyline

After various skirmishes, two wounded soldiers, one Bosniak and one Serb, confront each other in a trench in the no man's land between their lines. They wait for dark, trading insults and even finding some common ground; sometimes one has the gun, sometimes the other, sometimes both. Things get complicated when another wounded Bosnian comes to, but can't move because a bouncing mine is beneath him. The two men cooperate to wave white flags, their lines call the UN (whose high command tries not to help), an English reporter shows up, a French sergeant shows courage, and the three men in no man's land may or may not find a way to all get along.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1993 | allegory | yugoslav wars | yugoslavia | war satire | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Danis Tanovic's directorial film debut.

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Goofs

After Ciki shoots Nino and the old soldier, he loads the other of the together taped magazines in the rifle and makes a loading movement, thus cycling the first round in the chamber. A bit later, in the "who started the war scene" in the bunker, Ciki shouts "who started the war?" and makes another loading movement, which would cause the first round to be ejected (unspent) from the rifle. Yet no round is ejected.

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Quotes

[last words]
Cameraman: You're sure you don't want me to film the trench?
Jane Livingstone: No. A trench is a trench. They're all the same.

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Connections

Referenced in Danis Tanovic, portrait en 16 MM (2002)

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Soundtracks

Nini Sine, Spavaj Sine
Sung by Alma Bandic

User Reviews

As far as I'm concerned, this may very well be the finest film on the subject of war - or conflict in general - that was ever made

In the case of this movie, the Oscar was well deserved. The film was nominated in the wrong category, though ('Best Foreign Language Film'). It should have been up for 'Best Picture', 'Best Original Screenplay', 'Best Director - and it should have won all of those. As far as I'm concerned, this may very well be the finest film on the subject of war - or conflict in general - that was ever made. I've never seen anything similar; this film manages to show so many aspects of war, of human nature; it somehow manages to capture the essence of something that is inexplicable. Truly one of a kind and a must-see. And don't think for one second that this is some pretentious drivel or slow art-house fare - this is very much the opposite. 10 out of 10.

Details

Official Sites:

MGMawards.com Awards, release dates [United States] Océan Films [France] (French)

Country:

France Bosnia and Herzegovina Italy Belgium UK Slovenia

Language:

Bosnian French English Serbian

Release Date:

19 September 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

No Man's Land

Filming Locations:

Slovenia

Box Office

Budget:

EUR2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,645, 9 December 2001

Gross USA:

$1,012,153

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,858,869

Company Credits

Production Co:

Noé Productions, Fabrica, Man's Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 90 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1