The Load (2018) User Reviews

Bleak yet involving

[euroGary · 7/10 · 22 October 2018]

The Kosovo War of the late 1990s was one of the final acts of the break-up of what was once Yugoslavia. In 'The Load' a truck driver is assigned to transport a mysterious cargo to Belgrade, across a country under NATO bombardment. But anyone hoping for shots of blood 'n' guts will have to look elsewhere, as this film is less concerned with the mechanics of the conflict - even if it is the work's raison d'être - than it is with showing how the citizens of a country at war adjust and carry on, absorbing the conflict into their everyday lives.

Lead actor Leon Lucev (IMDb will not allow the correct spelling of his surname!) is a tough-looking bloke but as Vlada the trucker he delivers a performance that is a far cry from what the viewer may have expected to be the usual tough-guy role. Vlada is a taciturn man but not unfriendly: he attempts conversation with a teenage hitchiker and has to make all the running when talking to his son. Perhaps his quietness arises from disappointment with his life: he has to take the trucking job after being made redundant from his previous employment. His wife is ill and those NATO bombs are getting closer...

As Vlada's journey continues we get some nice shots of wintry, bleakly attractive countryside. Towards the end we see what Vlada has been transporting and a hint at actions he may take as a result. Also at the end of the film the significance of a stolen lighter is explained in an affecting story.

This is not a fast-moving film and will certainly not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.

Seen at the 2018 London Film Festival.

A Simple Haul Gets Complicated

[Blue-Grotto · 8/10 · 7 November 2018]

Vlada is a solitary truck driver in war torn Kosovo of 1999. Because jobs are few and far between, he happily accepts an assignment to haul locked and hidden cargo to Belgrade. Once you make a decision, Vlada figures, things get easier as you go along. He is so wrong in this assumption. In the next 24 hours Vlada will experience repeated shocks as the cruelties of war are impressed upon him even by seemingly innocuous things such as a lighter, pen, hitchiker and marble.

Vlada's encounters reveal how easy it is for the average person to get entangled in something sinister and beyond their comprehension. It is an intriguing yet somber reflection on war and the scars it inflicts on people. Leon Lucev won awards for his stoic and unassuming portrayal of Vlada. The film is a bit predictable. Critically acclaimed at Cannes and seen at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Stick with it...

[murphyclm · 8/10 · 9 November 2020]

I stuck with the movie, slow moving as it was, wanting to see what the load actually is. Others say "nothing" happens. When the driver is told at the end of his trip first trip to go inside the building, which he does and in the dark walks to the windows, where he observes other men have opened the truck and are hauling what look to be dead bodies into a big hole while dirt is being thrown into the hole. Then the lies down to go to sleep and wakened and given his money and directions for the next haul. He is told to be sure and wash the truck. He leaves then stops his truck and takes a hose, opens the back, unlocked now, and is overcome by the smell.

Realistic but something is missing

[kurodbuka · 8 October 2019]

At the very beginning the story shows us how the region looks and it shows us a scrap of the folks' everyday life. Vlada, a man of few words, got a temporary job as a truck driver and he's struggling to find his way to Belgrade as the bridge on the main road is blocked. There are some small talks which reveal the personality of Vlada but I failed to find some deeper meaning to it since nothing really happens. The first 50-60 minutes of the movie are great, at least something happens and I had the feeling that the story is leading me to some point... but nope. If this was some ouverture to something deeper it is great, if left as is it's an unfinished story.

"Once you make a decision, everything gets easier".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 5 October 2020]

I have an idea what director Ognjen Glavonic was trying to convey with this movie, but because of it's often unfocused and meandering nature, I think the average viewer will find it boring and pointless. The main character is a burly and thuggish looking truck driver named Vlada Stefanovic (Leon Lucev), making a delivery through a war torn country on the way to Belgrade. Set during the late Nineties conflict between Serbian state forces with Kosovo Albanian separatists, the milieu will be unfamiliar to the average viewer, and the story line doesn't add anything by way of explanation to help one understand. On his journey, interrupted by roadblocks along the way, Vlada picks up a hitchhiker, and their interaction reveals that the older man isn't really a bad guy per se, he's just trying to make ends meet with whatever job he could find to support his family. Though we never know what the truck's cargo contains, a significant hint is offered at the final destination when Vlada is ordered to clean out his truck. The realization that he may have been trafficking fellow citizens to safety causes him to revisit the strained relationship he has with his own son. Mind you, this is just conjecture on my part, because that idea is never really made clear. The film ends rather abruptly, and for anyone disengaged to begin with, a huge question mark will loom as to the relevance of the story to anything at all. It's not something I would recommend, even for it's noteworthy number of wins at international film festivals.

a time and a place

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 19 September 2022]

Vlada starts driving a truck after losing his factory job. It's 1999 Serbia and NATO has launched its bombing campaign. He's assigned to take a load to Belgrade. There is a padlock on the cargo door. He encounters various people and issues as bombs fall in the distant.

This evokes a time and a place. The sense of foreboding and sadness envelopes this story. One does keep waiting for something thrilling to happen but that's not this movie. It has a shocking reveal sort of. It didn't actually show it. Instead of the marble, I would replace it with jewelry which Vlada can give to his wife. That would add to the sad message of the movie.

Great Film

[yongfilmcritic · 9/10 · 23 February 2019]

I saw the film in Rotterdam at the IFFR. I was very impressed by this movie. Quiet and very controlled you will be taken into the story you will not soon forget. Well done.

Waiting and waiting and waiting

[Draysan-Jennings · 5/10 · 19 March 2020]

3 minutes left and I'm still waiting for something significant to happen. This film is so drawn out that it's driving me nuts. Great concept and shot well, but nothing happens. Movie just ended and still nothing. Bummer!

Not a war movie

[calcane-vs · 10/10 · 14 October 2018]

It is a heavy, painful yet powerful, deep and intelligent movie set in a war-torn Serbia. With a war crime in the center of a story, this movie is not about the war, nor about the crime. It is a story about the conflict of the antifascist history and the contemporary nationalism. But it's also a story of a divided society, human reaction to the inhuman conditions they were put in, brain-drain and whatnot. A must see!

Not good

[goodyshop · 1/10 · 3 October 2019]

I don't recommend this movie at all! Just waist of time pfff

*****Tedious

[GManfred · 18 September 2019]

Best part of "The Load" is the realistic overall feel and the sets, which are real locations. I'm a fan of acting and there's no complaint on that score - all concerned are competent and contribute to the aforementioned realism of the production.

But "The Load" quickly becomes the "Movie Where Nothing Happens" and we are left waiting for a little action; a tense scene, a confrontation, maybe a fight. But I'm afraid there's none of that to be found here. As stated, a great realistic feel and good acting performances but not compelling enough for a higher rating.

***** 5/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

Heavy movie that packs a punch

[chbrasso · 8/10 · 13 October 2018]

Slow moving and dense, yet always riveting. The main actor is excellent, never wavering in his intensity. You feel as if you are actually in the truck driving through war-torn Serbia. The scenery is dark and sparse, which fits with the storyline. The viewer waits the whole movie to find out his cargo and it is revealed in a very subtle but powerful manner. Worth watching if only to feel the effects of war.

Thr load of lies!

[marijaradetic · 1/10 · 6 May 2020]

This is by far the worst movie ever! I just can not believe that my country gave money for this!! Shame!!

Rewarding

[elision10 · 8/10 · 14 January 2021]

It's a shame this movie has only 12 reviews. There's little apparent action, yet at the same time a great deal is going on. Small sounds and momentary views say everything. There's not a single smile in the movie, and I don't recommend it if you're sad. But its quiet bleakness is devastating, a mix of the true horror of war and the pain of everyday life.

Bringing back the pain

[vetono · 8/10 · 25 June 2022]

I just watched this on Criterion. The relevance of the movie itself, apart from the fact that it captures screamingly well one particular moment in time, coMes with the knowledge on the secret load- hundreds of human bodies, men and women, girls and boys, stripped of all dignity even at death, and transported from crime scenes in Kosovo to Serbian Security forces base deep in Serbia to be buried in mass graves.

As NATO started the campaign in March 1999, on the ground Serbian police, military and paramilitaries amplified their engagement in systemic scorched earth operation, triggering a mass displacement of hundreds of thousands and murdering in cold blood thousands of civilians.

The truck in the movie is the reflection of many others that carried bodies of innocent victims in efforts to hide the horrendous crime. The movie brought back the painful memories and immense sense of rage and sadness. Never to be forgotten!

this movie tells one biggest truth

[iAmHalili · 8 May 2022]

This movie tells what Serbian done to Kosova, kills and massacre woman child man and and bury them in Serbia to lose track, and today there are missing Albanians who do not know where they are buried!