Best Screenplay Winner at Cannes?

Rating: 8/10 (16 August 2001)

This is a story that begs to be told--a good representation of what has been a mysterious war halfway around the world--in Yugoslavia. It is an immensely interesting film, dominated by the relationship between the Serb and Bosnian, and even more, their two sides. The workings of the UN peacekeepers were also well-represented and very interesting.
The problem I had with the film, ironically, was with the script, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes. The byplay between the Serb and Croat was great, and the portrayal of the several different nationalities of the UN (of which English is the only common language) is well represented.
Unfortunately, the film does dwell into cliches when introducing the media--the dialogue on the news reports is stale and uninvolving, I heard the same words in Three Kings. Of course, one is limited when portraying live news reports, but there is always an opportunity to make it fresh--unfortunately, the screenwriter chose not to do that here.
But all in all, a pretty good film.