"Comic drama" about the eternal tragedy of war,

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2006)

Good film about the huge lack of communication that all kinds of war entails.
Great characters, from courageous Sgt Marchand to a killable US commander aptly called "Soft". Marchand "I may be mad, but not stupid" (!). Jane Livingstone was a great "hysterical reporter". While definitely not working for any cause but her own, she was perky enough to get her job done, and through the story one comes to realize she does hold on to some principles.
Of course "Nino", desperately wanting approval in a handshake, even from a Bosnian :). And the punctual German "démineur", specially his face when he's got to go back to the trench and act as if he worked :). So the matter-of-fact ways of "Cera".
When I originally saw this film I didn't like it much. Maybe the topic came by me as an "Oscar grabber", maybe "Ciki" was a bit too much of a "hero" to be honest.
I like the fact that Tanovic managed to include good "comedy" amidst this drama. Like the ineptitude of both sides, the hopeless way the French tried everybody to speak French :), the roughness of a fat Serb official & crew, and Simon Callow's pompous Brit accent and nice "assistant". And Cera's description of his situation. Ironical, very "Balkanic" indeed...
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha) on Amazon shows what a good reviewer can do. I am glad Amazon selects his "spotlight reviews" so well! Just one phrase sums it all: "The film also transcends the peculiarities of the region to make a statement about the absurdities of war in the age of mass media". Same goes for Linda Linguvic (New York City)'s first paragraph.
I agree with "Coventry" on IMDb that it having won over the stupid "Amélie" shows the Oscars are sometimes given to good movies. Well, then they gave everything to LOTR, so they ruined everything, but at least in the valuable "Foreign film" you will always get quality over marketing. Too with his "Tanovic succeeds in bringing what so many other directors desperately attempt and fail". And "little ingenious findings and subtle sarcasm".
I'd like to close this review with the valuable words of "Jane Livingstone": Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral". Much like this famous phrase quoted in the end of "Tears of the sun": as English philosopher Edmund Burke said, 'The only thing necessary for the triumph -of evil- is for good men to do nothing.'
Sleep well.