Excellent Acting, Cinematography and Directing

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2012)

Ms. Jolie's work as an actress cuts across a wide range of genres. One can never be sure what to expect. From absolute excellence in "Girl Interrupted" and "Changeling" to competent and interesting in her action films, Ms. Jolie reaches occasional greatness. Other films pay well for her star quality.
Her reputation was once tabloid junk food. As a young woman, she was known for being immature, outlandish and a little weird. Ms. Jolie has matured and become a humanitarian, and it seems that her mission in life to have some sort of impact on those less fortunate. Very few people are as fortunate as she is. She earns millions of dollars making movies, is admired for her looks by men and women alike, and she is married to one of Hollywood's icons.
Her directorial debut with "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a film about the genocide by Serbian nationalists against Bosnian Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Western world was introduced to the war's atrocities when the nightly news from 1992 to 1995 aired footage of snipers killing civilian men, women and children in Sarajevo as they attempted to get food and water. The Serbs lobbed bombs from the hills surrounding the city, killing anyone who happened to be in the way. The world looked on as heavily armed Serbs murdered civilians and destroyed what had been one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Ms. Jolie's film imposes a Romeo and Juliet theme in the foreground while rape, murder and unspeakable acts occur in the background. A couple meets at a club. They are very much in love, and they dance away the evening, aware of only each other. This blissful moment is interrupted by an explosion which kills a number of the people at the club.
We learn that the girl is Bosnian and Muslim, and her lover is Serbian, the son of a general who wants to wipe every Bosnian Muslim from the face of the Earth.
We have seen some of these scenes in other movies. The theme of Serbian ethnic cleansing of Muslims has been explored before. The use of rape by the Serbs to terrorize and dehumanize women has also been the subject of other films.
Once the women are on the bus, we know they are not headed anywhere nice. The men in the village are killed and put in a large ditch. These are relatively graphic scenes of violence. The women are taken to the troops for sexual entertainment. Anyone who challenges the authority of the Serbian military is shot immediately. The women serve the needs of the soldiers.
We see Romeo at the Serbian military base where he is a captain in charge of a company of Serbs. They kill Muslims by day and drink by night. They rape the women when they feel like it.
Our Romeo spares his Juliet by taking her out of the pool of women who will be used by the soldiers. She is a fine artist, and he finds a nice room for her, which is her cell. They drink wine and dine in the evening. He participates in horror during the day, but he relaxes with his captive in the evening. She is conflicted about her preferential treatment when her family and friends are enduring the tortures of the damned. She has no real choice in the matter.
When his father, the general in charge of ethic cleansing, discovers that he is keeping a Muslim woman in his apartment. The father orders a solder to rape her and he berates his son for failing to hate all Muslims as he does.
This is a tragic story about men who were willing to engage in acts of pure evil. How do rape and murder and vile acts of violence demonstrate a belief in Christianity or a belief that one's faith is superior to another? It has always been my understanding that the Catholic Church abhors rape and murder. There is no explanation. We see men who murder, rape, drink and tell jokes about their lives seemingly unburdened by guilt. There are a few Serbs who question their actions, but the pangs are temporary and they return to the killing and raping of their enemies.
This is a film that will not please Serbian audiences as it shines a light on the war crimes committed against a people, a people they may still hate.
Ms. Jolie's direction was excellent as the characters came alive under her guidance.
Bravo.