Chilling and illuminating with touches of black comedy

Rating: Null/10 (20 April 2002)

While I would have to say that most everything that could be stated about No Man's Land, I felt inclined to say some more here for lack of a more suitable forum in which to discuss the film (My friends lean more towards the second part of my little double feature- The Cars That Ate Paris).
First I am happy to see a war film which at no time uses sheer quantity of battle and gore to impress upon us either its bloodlust or anti-war stance. Naturally there are a lot of both. The small scale of the story would seem to stem as much from economical reasons. I would guess that the budget would not have allowed for the Spielberg approach. Even so, allowing the plot to rest on a few people and their plight allows a rich experience.
The acting was, in my opinion, excellent. Every moment seemed to me believable, and the actors facilitated very well the laughs which were squeezed out of this one. Some wasn't great. The British officer was not anything special, but he too served his purpose.
Some people have mentioned other films from the region, as well as the noteworthy Three Kings. I have to say that I see the most similarity with a late Burt Lancaster war film, Go Tell The Spartans. The filmmaking felt similarly smalltime in the most positive sense of the word. The theme of limited involvement in what is not our business exists in both films. This though, felt more effective.