Good film, give her a break

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2012)

I am frankly appalled by some of the negative reviews this film has received. The acting is excellent, the direction and production values are of high quality, and the story is indeed one-sided. Don't you think Ms. Jolie was entirely aware of this when she made the film? All that has happened here is that she has adopted a certain viewpoint and portrayed this on film, rather well actually. Yes there were atrocities on all sides (she does not say there weren't, in fact these are discussed in some of the dialogue). That is not the point; this movie is about a love affair between a Serbian man and a Bosnian Muslim woman, and the inner battles both of them go through knowing what is happening around them. He spends most of the movie trying to protect her, while she spends most of the movie either scared out of her wits, or just plain nervous.
Some people are dismissing the movie because it is only showing one side of the conflict. I believe Ms. Jolie's reaction is that she has nothing to be ashamed of, because that is how she believes things were. They probably were (all over the region, with differing perpetrators). Again I say give Ms. Jolie a break.