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 & 21 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 Bosnian 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:

bosnian soldier | tv reporter | tragic event | bosnia | year 1993 | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

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:

Ničija zemlja

Filming Locations:

Slovenia

Box Office

Budget:

€2,100,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,645, 9 December 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,059,830, 27 May 2002

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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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

Chiki: Do you even know what's the difference between a pessimist and an optimist?
Nino: No, what?
Chiki: A pessimist thinks things can't be worse. An optimist knows they can.

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Connections

References Ace in the Hole (1951)

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Soundtracks

Anterija
Sung by Sarr e Roma with:
Adnan Zimic
Amir Karaha Sanovic
Miralem Basic
Kosta Latinovic
with special guest
Muris Dautovic on the accordion

User Reviews

Intelligent and humorous critic against the Yugoslavian war

The movie talks upon three soldiers , one Serbian and two Bosnian who are trapped in a trench amidst the contenders lines during Servia-Bosnia Herzegovina war in 1993 , at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides . One Bosnian finds himself unlucky hooked to a bomb that in movement case can cause blow-up .

It's a sour denounce facing the war realized with dark humor . There's a keen critic to the role of United Nations , ¨U.N.¨ , in which two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict , become trapped in no man's land , whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap . The screenplay tackles issues about the war horror , morality and ethic but with notes of acute and sharp comedy developed in great sense of ductility and fairness . The story is nicely narrated in hight sensitivity and intelligence . It's a fascinating warlike film described in a serious-comic style . The flick obtained a well deserved Oscar winner for best foreign language picture . The film tries to remain neutral but appear Radovan Karazkic's images commanding the Sarajevo siege . The motion picture takes part of the Servian war subgenre , such as :¨Welcome to Sarajevo¨ or ¨Before the Rain¨ and other numerous films . The principal actors , although unknown , are excellent . The support cast is more known , thus shows up Katrin Aldridge who unfortunately dead recently by a stroke , she interprets an impulsive journalist . Simon Callow as an United Nations colonel is equally magnificent . The picture was finely directed by debuting Danis Tanovic (¨Tigers¨, "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker" , ¨Triage¨) who also wrote the screenplay and even the music . Rating : Above average . Well catching.