Powerful and elegant directorial debut..

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2013)

With the release of "In the Land of Blood & Honey," actress Angelina Jolie has proved that she has much more to offer than "just a pretty face." She has created an exceptional film about the bloody and horrifying Bosnian war. The film details the struggle of Bosnian Muslims, as they are rounded up, imprisoned, and eventually slaughtered by the Serbian people, still holding a grudge against the Bosnians for injustices done to them during WW2. At the center of this uncomfortably intense film, are two unlikely "lovers," if one can call them that. Ajla, a Bosnian artist, and Danijel, a dedicated Serbian soldier, are thrown together in the middle of a political and religious war zone. Danijel struggles with his feelings for this woman, as they clash with a rabid hatred for her people, hammered into him by his father, a military man on his own personal crusade against people that he sees as less than human. Danijel's conflicting feelings turn him insane with paranoia. If you are expecting melodrama, think again; this film is very "un Hollywood." Stark, depressing and realistic, and free of showy, flowery speeches and war scenes. Jolie must be a great admirer of World cinema, as her film is done in this ultra-realistic style. For instance, the overbearing orchestral music that Hollywood films are known to have, is totally absent here. Most scenes play without any orchestral score, and even during the most intense scenes, the music is very low, so as not to distract from what is happening. I was impressed by Jolie's choices throughout. The look of "Land of Blood & Honey" is cold, and starkly beautiful. The interior shots are as gloomy and sinister as one would imagine them to be, and the outdoor scenes of snowy landscapes and Eastern block architecture, are haunting and desolate. There are no fake movie sets in this film, and happily, no high profile movie stars to destroy the realism of the production. Jolie made the wise decision to cast local actors, who speak their own language, rather than casting American actors speaking with ludicrous Bosnian/Serbian accents. The two leads were wonderful; Zana Marjanovic was strong and utterly believable as Ajla, and Goran Kostic portrayed Danijel as a man desperately trying to keep his sanity intact, as his father pulls him in one direction and his passion for Ajla, in the opposite. This film has garnered endless controversy over the fact that it has chosen a side, and tells the story from the Bosnian perspective. But this is a movie, and that is the structure of film; the audience needs to have someone to empathize with, as well as a villain to despise. Perhaps Serbian people don't want to be reminded of how some of their people acted during this time, just as many Germans today are uncomfortable with their own history. But this film has been unjustly slammed by people, who claim that it's a bad movie, when that could not be further from the truth. "In the Land of Blood & Honey" is an impressive debut, from a woman that is obviously concerned with World issues, and I hope to see Ms. Jolie in the directors chair again.