NO MAN’S LAND
2002, 88 minutes, Colour.
Branki Djuric, Rene Bitorojac, Karin Cartledge, Simon Callow.
Directed by Denis Tanovic.
No Man’s Land screened to great acclaim at the Cannes film festival in 2001. It did the festival circuit – and then won the Oscar for best foreign film of that year.
It was written and directed by Danis Tanovic who was born in Bosnia- Herzogovina in 1969. Tanovic then went on to contribute one of the short films, especially about protest in the context of the wars in the Balkans, for 11-09-01. His next film was Hell, based on a screenplay by Krysztof Kieslowski, one of the three treatments he left for a trilogy on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. (Tom Tykwer made the first of the trilogy, Heaven, with Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi.)
The plot of the film is the familiar one of two soldiers, one from each side, having to co-survive. It is reminiscent of such films as Hell in the Pacific or Joyeux Noel. The setting is 1993, the two soldiers, one Bosnian, the other Serb, are trapped in a trench in no-man’s land. They clash, insult each other, wait until night falls so that they can get out of the trench. However, they begin to share some common humanity. When another Bosnian soldier comes into the trench but is unable to move because of the mine beneath him, the two find that they need to cooperate – waving white flags, getting in contact with the UN. The film then introduces an English reporter, played by Katrin Cartlidge, who interviews them and a French sergeant who is courageous in trying to help the men to get out.
There have been many films, an increasing number, about the wars in the Balkans during the 1990s. This is one of the most significant.
1. The winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film? Other awards? Its impact in 2001 and 2002? War in the '90s, the Balkans wars, atrocities in the name of freedom and independence? The background of civil war, the traditions in the Balkans, the neighbouring antagonisms, the ethnic cleansing, the crimes against humanity?
2. The serious tone of the film yet its comic perception of the characters? The comedy of the men lost in the fog and then their sudden deaths? The two men in the trench, microcosm of the war, their antagonism, their violence and eventual deaths? The man unconscious and the Serbs placing the bomb under him? The serious attempts at rescue, the black irony of the detonators not able to do anything about the bomb? His being left to his death? How well did the film blend the serious with black comic touches? The overall impact on the audience about the nature and futility of war?
3. The Slovenian settings for the Bosnian- Serb war? The beauty of the summer's day after the night of fog, the sun, the green hills and the trees? The open fields of the no man's land? The trenches? The beauty of the day and yet the violence of the actions? The musical score, songs and themes?
4. The episode in the war as a symbol of the whole war? The small party of Bosnians and their massacre? The survival of the two men in the trench? The attack of the Serbs and their violence? The mission of the two to check on the trench? The irony of the man killed? The survivor as the young inexperienced soldier? Their antagonism?
5. The role of the United Nations, the British overall chief in Sarajevo, watching the television, exasperated on the phone, having to make decisions, flying down in the helicopter, supervising, finding out the truth, providing a cover-up for the media, calling a later press conference, leaving the man on the mine to his fate? The French and the clash between the subordinate and his commanding officer? His using the media to pressurise something being done about the trench? The personnel, their keeping the peace, their having to keep the peace between the two men in the trench, having to use force and guns? The commander's arrival, his exasperation, the importance of human feelings and yet inability to do anything about the man on the mine? The precision of the German mine expert, his attempts to save the man, the inability to do anything after studying the nature of the bouncing mine? The frustration and futility of the experience?
6. Thiki and his being part of the Bosnian group, survival, his thinking his companion dead? Trying to survive in the trench, the Serbs coming, his hiding, being discovered having taken the gun? The clash between the two groups, the killing of the Serb officer (and the overtone of finding the gay picture in his pocket)? The young survivor, his antagonism, both of them wounded? The uneasy truce as the afternoon went on? Their antagonism and hostility symbolising the war? The arrival of the United Nations, the Bosnian not speaking English, the Serb speaking English? Communications? Guns and knives and their attempts to kill each other? Finally coming out of the trench, the Bosnian getting the knife, the confrontation and their both dying? The development of their characters and audiences understanding them, being annoyed with their intransigent attitudes, the futility of their deaths?
7. The man on the mine, coming to consciousness, having to lie still, his wanting to go to the toilet, his needing to have his leg scratched? His trying to keep the peace between the two? With the United Nations personnel? His being abandoned to his fate - and death as soon as he moved?
8. The media, Jane Livingston and her pushiness, the deal with Marchand? Her camera assistant, her bossiness, the personnel at headquarters and wanting her to interview the two men, their both rejecting her? Wanting to get detail, the self-important announcement of her being photographed live? The clash with the French commander? The clash with the British commander? The promise of the press conference? The other media personnel, gathering, shouting at the commander, keeping back because of the danger, not knowing the truth about the man being left to his fate?
9. Audience knowledge of the Bosnian war, the status of the Serbs, of the Bosnian Serbs, of the ethnic Bosnians? The historical antagonisms? The wars of neighbours? The aftermath and the hopes for peace in the Balkans?
