Dörfer in Flammen

The rhythms of Balkan brass bands evoke positive associations in me. Under the baton of Srdjan Dragojevic, this remarkable phenomenon took a direction that - politely speaking - perplexes me. Not that I got lost in Dragojevic's verbosity and constant shifting of time frames, but both of them exhausted me. The pronounced theatricality irritated rather than attracted and entertained me. The peculiar, sometimes awkward combination of humor and the horrors of war atrocities didn't sit well with me. In my opinion, Dragojevic lacks a sense for the right dosing of ingredients, so the result is an overcooked mixture. In his film, you will find almost all imaginable motifs and genre clichés of war movies, but it is fragmented, and additionally, I have the feeling of a celebration of bravado and exaggerated poses of Balkan warriors, which Joe Sacco portrayed much better in his graphic novel "Safe Area Gorazde." Where others see one of the best film adaptations of the Balkan wars, I see the opposite. More intimate and compelling narratives like No Man's Land appeal to me far more. Overall impression: 45%. (20.03.2019)

An incredibly important film—not just for the former Yugoslavia, but for the world. It shows us scenes we can hardly believe are real, yet they are. Still, I can’t bring myself to give it five stars. At times, the filmmakers awkwardly mix humor with harsh reality, making the film feel more like a farce than the brutal truth it’s meant to convey. The shifts between comedy and seriousness just don’t land well, leaving the film feeling off-balance. (09.11.2010)