In the Land of Blood and Honey

Plot synopsis:
Danijel, a Serb, first meets Ajla, a Bosnian, on the dance floor. Their flirtations are brought to an abrupt end by a bomb attack. Its 1992 and Yugoslavias civil war is raging. All of a sudden, Danijel is a soldier with orders to obey, and Ajla is now a woman who lives in fear of her life. Shortly afterwards Ajla is imprisoned at an internment camp where rape and torture are the order of the day. One of the camps henchmen is Danijel. In order to protect Ajla, who is an artist, he asks her to draw portraits of his comrades-in-arms. At first their relationship is fuelled by passion but before long Ajla realises her powerful position and uses Danijels desire to help other Bosnian women prepare an uprising. Desperate for his Islamic-hating fathers respect, Danijel tries to prove his masculinity to Ajla of all people.Angelina Jolies directorial debut tells a story that puts a human face on the Balkan war. The plot centres on a struggle for survival, and a conflict on a battlefield where it is no longer possible to distinguish between repression and desire, strategy and feelings.Source: Berlinale

Tags: revenge, murder, violence, flashback

Review:
the film tells nothing about events i have encountered whatsoever so i have no interest whatsoever in choosing sides..,I am Just someone who enjoys cinema if it's good.But...this Film held almost nothing pour moi.The script seemed to lead nowhere..i seriously had the feeling a few times that the Director lost all control as to where we where heading.I mean we watch a couple dancing..suddenly there's an explosion en after that there is no reference to that explosion what so ever.When they later meet again, it's as if they never saw each other before.The character studies are awfully weak and stereotypical...why bother witch Photographical composition, well lit scenes etc.when awful things like mass-rape are taking place...I'v read in other reviews ' but it was very beautifully photographed' in this story that's a weakness IMO.In the first part we see the main character,Aijla wearing a lovely yellow coloured sweater..which gives great looking camera color & compositions and atmosphere...but...why?
It,to me was a boring movie.and should hold lessons in Filmmaker/vision For Jolie.Next time better !This film to me looked like a schoolgirls naive-sentiment in viewing the horror's of war.
Chronicling the systematic encampment, rape and slaughter of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) ethnic group during the Bosnian War sounds like some very compelling and powerful material, and "In the Land of Blood and Honey" would have been compelling and powerful, if that was what the movie was about.
Furthermore, without Ajla's sister's subplot, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a war film that only lightly dabbles in the brutality of war for less than a third of the movie and then it's back to the flimsy love story.
In the end, Jolie attempts to address the political, brutal and cultural elements that make war so complex, but spends far, far, far too much time telling the remedial Romeo and Juliet love story between Danijel and Ajla.
But because "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a far less developed film, the "all Serbian's (except for one) are inherently ruthless and cruel" mentality this film encourages, comes off as unnaturally skewed especially to those (like me) who are unfamiliar with the in-depth events of the Bosnian War. Now I am not saying that the Serbs in this film, who are shown ethnically cleansing a mass group of Muslims, were not horrible people, BUT the way this movie presents an entire race (The Serbs) as irrational and blood-thirsty, could be perceived as quite one sided.
But much as Jolie tries, it seems as if she knows more about the logistics of a love story than about creating a compelling war film.
Not to say that "In the Land of Blood and Honey" isn't a watchable effort, and does minimally redeem itself in the final two scenes of the film, BUT how this film was nominated for a Golden Globe only proves that the Hollywood Foreign Press will do anything to hang out with big stars.Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review.
But even the executive summary of such a story would take up more time than Angelina Jolie's feature film directorial debut.So if you ignore historical background and accuracy, this is essentially a bad movie.
This might be convincing to the average viewer but sounds stupid to anyone who knows this part of the world.The only good thing is the atmosphere at the beginning of the conflict, where most of the people believed the war would be over in a matter of weeks.I find it remarkable that a star like Angelina Jolie devotes her times to humanitarian work and tells the world the untold stories of human suffering.
Before watching this movie, I thought this would be more of a sappy twisted love story between a Bosnian woman and Serb man and the focus would be on them versus the actual events of the war.
Perhaps the Serbs picked up on this as well and that's why they didn't want to show this movie in their country, but either way the love story was just as much a part of the symbolism as was the actual depiction of the murders, rapes, and torturing of the people.
The love story was actually not sappy and not a Hollywood plot of getting you to watch the film, rather it was a means of small-scaling the war for the viewer.
If you told me that a Bosnian made this movie, it wouldn't have surprised me but the mere fact that an American actress did this who hasn't lived a day in the life of a Bosnian during the war, shows you how sheer genius her script really is.
I can understand, she stirred a lot in the mood of audience, making people feel bad about what happened in front of the eyes of all world,especially the Europeans, simply watching and waiting it ended somehow.And again, it must be a woman who was courageous enough to hold the mirror into the faces of people, men especially with so much ignorance and hypocrisy.
Its recommendable for teens from 19+ and its the counterpart for "Schindlers List" just for the modern times.The both main actors won't show you an extraordinary performance but it the given situation of destruction and war, you won't even miss it.This movie also shows very well there is nobody to judge, just our self by allowing this on an international level or simply watching away !
They rekindle their love, but can they trust on each other?"In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a surprisingly good romance in the brutal Bosnian War and the debut of Angeline Jolie as director.
The movie was powerful, and its important that when u watch any movie, you need to focus on how u feel after it, and since I know that, as we sit behind our computers and cups of coffee, truth is, many suffer, whether it is Muslims, Christians, or Jews or any other religion.The movie touches upon many personal issues such as love, hate, betrayal, anger,suffering, and many other emotions.Favorite quote " are we so terrible...we should be exterminated" .After reviewing others' reviews, it seems that the main focus was on how one sided the movie is.
It's been an hour now since it ended and I still can't shake the feeling that awakening the spirits of the Bosnian war in such a gruesome fashion was in bad taste.However, I also feel the need to address some of the unfounded accusations made against the movie and its director in some of the more politically motivated reviews.
One that comes to mind is Pretty Village Pretty Flame, which is a very good movie in its own right, but looks like a slightly sinister comedy compared to what I watched tonight.All in all, once you get over the fact that you are not going to be taught a history lesson by this movie, you may begin to see it as a story of two people destroying each other in the midst of a slaughter neither of them understands.P.S. The 'factual error' on the movie page saying the uniforms Serbian soldiers wear are not authentic, is not really an error.
There's Act of Valor and its war on terror against a fictional opposition, and both 5 Days of War and The Land of Blood and Honey take on a look back at the 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict and the 1992-1995 Bosnian War respectively, weaving a fictional story in front of an historical backdrop, the former aligning itself closer to an action film, and this one being a more dramatic take that deals with a forbidden romance.Written, directed and co-produced by Angelina Jolie, one wonders what went through her thought process when she decided to take up duties and responsibilities from behind the camera instead of in front of it, and to have one's directorial feature debut deal with such a heavy topic about genocide, sexual violence, and the inner beasts that mankind has the propensity to turn into when fighting for beliefs, regardless whether right or wrong.
She doesn't shy away from graphic portrayal of the many atrocities committed by the aggressors, and showed how humanity can crumble into nonchalance through murky politics, and when it decides to sit back from the outside and do nothing.That's the macro picture, and the film balances it with a micro look at a more personal level through the eyes of the protagonists, Serbian Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Bosnian Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), who begins the film looking very optimistic and expectant of her date with the former, at a time of peace and tranquility if not for a bomb blast to signal the end of harmony, and a prelude of the unimaginable and inexplicable violence to come.
Marjanovic brings about a balance in both vulnerability and steely strength in her character of Ajla, who has to decide on her emotions, whether or not she can literally fall in love and be sleeping with the enemy, while Kostic's own performance deals with the ability to show compassion, or be seduced by a master-slave power that overwhelms, and slowly but surely corrupts and spirals into obsessive suspicion and paranoia.What became more intriguing as the narrative wore on, was the similarities with Ang Lee's Lust, Caution in the second half of the film, where a woman found herself tasked to do a job to make a stand for the oppressed and her people, given her natural charms and close proximity to do so.
The final scene between Danijel and Ajla is intense and will serve as a talking point given the quick, convenient and inevitable way to closure.But like 5 Days of War, this film is fairly lop-sided in its politics, so focus not on that but on the relationship that is Romeo-and-Juliet-ish involving star crossed lovers from opposite sides of the land trying to keep the flickering flame of their love affair alive amongst the chaos and destruction around them..
The thing about this story being a fictional one set in war that actually occurred is also a fact that shouldn't bother the audience and stop it from enjoying this great film, because I don't think it's fair to enjoy a fictional story about Jack and Rose, two love-birds on Titanic, and criticize this well written story about Ajla and Danijel.
My point is, Angelina Jolie proved herself as a great director and producer, and others who say otherwise are just not happy with this film because it touches one serious matter that is still going on in Bosnia, even though the war is over..
I think this was a good movie, but it just have a small part of the truth, the reality was much worse, This war was genocide on the Muslim population, the sad part is that the Bosnian part of the population is really peaceful people.
I find the movie interesting, I would give it 6/10 and would like to encourage Mrs Jolie to direct more movies like this one.I'm giving it a 10 because 90% of the comments come from Serbians that rate it with 1 star only because they can't handle the truth.This movie's subject, although very sensitive, shows some really horrible sides of war and situations that still happen every day, in the whole world.
Most Americans know nothing of the horrors that went on during this time period because American Media and Popular World media gave it very little coverage at best, but mostly no coverage at all of what was really happening.This is about the genocide in the Bosnian / Serb War. It depicts many points of view, form a Muslim's POV to A Serb's POV and many POV's in between.
Women in captivity were raped and killed, children slaughtered; and the World pretty much ignored the whole situation.Angelina Jolie learned of the conflict and researched into it and was horrified by what happened and how it was not something the media seemed to care about.
It's not your typical blockbuster action packed thrill ride, or your "chick flick" romantic type movie......it's an emotional roller coaster of love, hate, politics, religion, genocide, shame, guilt, pain and loss.If you find history boring or fictionalized stories interwoven with true events tedious, then you will hate this film.
i do admire courage of those who dare to say something about story of conflict without being actually there or knowing- or even LIVING BALKAN HISTORY...i do wonder...what would you all say,when it would happen to you...true is,there are no winners in war..but genocide happened( how much anyone helped MAY BE SEEN IN SREBRENICA-where you may still find big cemetery called town)have you been there?!
In an incredibly thoughtful way, Jolie selected the cast of new and celebrity actors, mainly of Serbian ethnic origin, with whom she worked closely in creating the movie and representing the story of the war.
I had just recently seen "In the Land of Blood and Honey", and as this woman was speaking to me, I almost told her about having watched the movie made about her story.
It is impressive, that of all people, Angelina Jolie, has made this important movie, and told the hardly believable, but true story of Bosnian women's war experience..
Yet, nowhere is his hugely unimpressive performance more exposed than in the movie's final scene, which, to be fair to Howard, is lost on the foreign viewer watching the English version of the film or the one in the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language with English subtitles.
Watch the movie instead, from your point of view, as a human being, without choosing sides and if nothing else then bear this message in your minds: that war was as brutal and violent as it is shown but something like that could happen to anyone.
It is a true story that Angelina Jolie's first movie isn't the greatest of all times, but it ain't so bad as it is represented.
For this one, no matter how hard I try, I can not say if it is good or bad as a movie, 'couse I am watching it from the perspective of a Bosnian, whose nation suffered in this war.
Serbs will think it is a big lie, Bosnian will awake memories of these hard times and raise this movie to the sky, the neutral ones will watch it probably because Angelina Jolie signs it.
I applaud Ms. Jolie for making a film like this, showing the different sides of war.
The ethnic cleansing is a difficult subject to talk about and a lot of Serbs are angry because of this movie so only somebody form outside could actually make a move like this and that somebody is of course Angelina Jolie.
I don't think that the Bosnian or Serbian OR anybody else is right, because they thing that with war they will have power, but they have only the land of blood :)I don't care what other people say about the movie, but i like this movie and i'm sure that if AJ do other movies they will be much better and i think she have interesting point of view..
She talked to the raped women and she told their story, so that everyone should know the truth about war in the middle of Europe.They did the same thing that did Hitler during the WW II against the Jewish people..
I find it sad that so many people have given this movie such negative reviews, I think this movie is very underrated maybe its just because Angelina Jolie directed it and not some hot shot like Steven Spielberg or something maybe people have a vendetta towards Angelina or something,or maybe people are peeved because it doesn't tell the story of the Bosnian war in a realistic way, but I think the movie was very well done, the actors were superb,and the story although not completely true, was very thought provoking , it gives you a sense of what it was like, I found it very sad and tragic I think that's all Angelina was trying to do was to give you a sense of what it was like, she never said it was going to be a documentary or anything, I think for her first time directing she didn't do a bad job, this movie isn't perfect but its not bad either, I think people just need to get over there issues,the whole brad and Jen thing was so last decade ago get over it already..
I know that Angelina Jolie is huge into drawing attention to this type of atrocity but after awhile it was like "I get it, it was bad, please stop showing rapes." This is a tough movie to watch but I will say that the fighting scenes and the acting were very good.
Great movie, shows the real side of chetniks (serbs) during the war in Bosnia...
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.
Story of Bosnian and Balkan Wars is complicated and I admire Angelina Jolie because this is first Hollywood attempt to present this complex period of time for all people in balkan area.
But it's a great film, a masterpiece really and should be seen.The story covers a few years of time starting in the nineties, beginning with the invasion of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Bosnian Serbs and the Serbians, greatly aided by the well armed Serbian army.'Ethnic cleansing' something the Nazi's were committed to in many areas of Europe during WWII, included the Serbian people, something the collective Serbian memory forgot about since they practiced this barbarism as a war policy against the Bosnian Muslims and Croats.
Moreover this was Directed by Angelina Jolie.Well the story of the movie revolves around a Serbian soldier and his love affair with a Bosnian Women.