Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9952 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-01-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A brilliant take on the tragedy that beset his country, Danis Tanovic's directorial debut No Man's Land is a bleak comedy set during the war in Bosnia. The story begins as a group of Bosnian soldiers emerge from a fog to realise that they have strayed into a thin strip of land unclaimed by either side in the conflict. A bloody sequence of events ensues, which results in a disputed trench being occupied by weathered Bosnian veteran Branko Djuric and his opposite number, Rene Bitorajac's Serbian greenhorn. There's a standoff between them, complicated by Djuric's injured colleague lying atop a "bouncing mine". He's a human booby trap--move him and the everything within 50 yards will be blown sky-high. As the blue-hatted, ineffectual UN are called in, and with the world's media, led by the late Katrin Cartlidge as a rather snotty BBC reporter, swiftly arriving on the scene, this single trench becomes an almost Beckettian metaphor for the war.

Tanovic is not especially concerned with taking sides in the Bosnian-Serb conflict. Whatever its causes, both sides are seen to be as bad, or more accurately as desperate, as each other. That it's hard, for outsiders in particular, to tell who's who much of the time only heightens the irony. There's anger at the media intrusiveness ("Does our misery pay well?" screams Djuric at the reporters), but what's really conveyed is a sense of the absurdity, futility and intractability of war, as summarised in the final image. From the grotesque mess of conflict, Tanovic has fashioned a perfectly judged and beautifully executed movie.

On the DVD: No Man's Land is presented in widescreen with a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. There are no extras, other than an English language option for the hard of hearing. --David Stubbs

Special Features
Croatian
Region 2
English

Synopsis
Dani Tanovic's debut film, about the futility of the Bosnian War, stars Branko Duric as Ciki, a Bosnian soldier with really bad luck. When he and a few other relief soldiers try to join their Bosnian comrades on the front, they get lost in fog, fall asleep, and are awakened at dawn by Serbian gunfire. His comrades are all blown away, but Ciki saves himself by diving into an abandoned trench in no man's land. Nino (Rene Bitorajac), a Serbian soldier, sneaks into the trench and finds Ciki. Though both men are armed and dangerous, they are nonetheless unable to escape the trench without getting shot at by either side. The Unprofor are called in to fix the situation but they only make matters worse. When an English journalist, Jane Livingston (Katrin Cartlidge), gets wind of the story, a media frenzy breaks out across the front.
Tanovic knows his subject matter well as he worked as a war documentarian during the Bosnian conflict. The title of the film, NO MAN'S LAND, is especially fitting given the setting--rolling hills covered with flowers, birds, and insects. The background sound is filled with birds chirping and bugs buzzing, and Tanovic also composed the soundtrack.

Customer Reviews

Tragic, to the point, and rather brilliant
Last year, just before the Academy voted their choices for the Oscars, Miramax launched a campaign. The campaign was pretty simple - to have the Academy, who's vote choices included Best Foreign Language Film, to actually have SEEN the foreign language films they were voting from. The only Miramax film in this category was the hugely popular French movie Amelie, which is what most would have been voted for without the campaign as it is probably the only film most of the voters would have seen, so this was a brave and rather admirable step for Miramax to take. The campaign was launched, the films were viewed, and No Man's Land, a Bosnian film, won.

Whether it is, in fact, better than Amelie or whether the Academy followed suit from Cannes and thought it was too 'lightweight' for an Oscar is debatable but this is still a very good war film.

The story is pretty simple. In 1993, two Bosnians and a Serb are caught in a trench between enemy lines. They - eventually - call a truce as one of the Bosnians is lying on top of an unexploded mine, planted by the Serbs to fool the Bosnians when they think the soldier is dead, that would explode if he got up and kill all of them. Things start spinning out of hand when the UN and the media become involved, not least because they all seem to speak different languages.

Dani Tanovic's biting war film has satirical touches - the situation would almost be a comic set up if it were not for the threat to the soldiers' lives. The soldiers from the opposing sides (the third, on the mine, is a smaller though crucial part), through their fights and arguments learn a little about each other and both come to the conclusion that the war will solve nothing and it is the other side's fault it started. They both have opportunities to kill each other but do not, not because they become friends but because they realise that it would be a human being they were killing rather than just another enemy soldier.

Perhaps No Man's Land does not have the scope of movies such as Apocalypse Now, or the emotional depth of movies like Platoon or Schindler's List, but it still outlines how pointless war is and the effect it can have on people. It gets the message across well, as it shows us the situation from four different viewpoints - the soldiers involved; the concerned UN blue caps ("smurfs"); the nosy news reporter; and the indifferent bigwig (played by Simon Callow).

The situation in the movie has an effect on everyone's lives involved, and you will find yourself on the edge of your seat all the way up to the inevitable, and devastating, climax. At 98 minutes it is a little short but it still manages to fulfil its purpose and this is considerably better than some of the gung-ho war movies Hollywood sporadically spews out.

"By the way, who started the war...?"
"No Man's Land" is a triumphant and dark satire with raw power that is both undeniable and mesmerizing. And that says a lot, being that I'm not the biggest fan of foreign films. The film is funny and tragic at the same time. Very rarely can you come across a decent movie that can successfully combine drama with comedy, let alone finding one that is superb. "No Man's Land" is indeed superb on all levels.

The film takes place during the horrific Bosnian-Serb conflict. In a strange turn-of-events, a Bosnian soldier ends up being trapped with a Serbian soldier in a trench (a wounded comrade of the Bosnian soldier is also in the trench). Both the Bosnian and Serbian sides refuse to help the two, so it's up to the UN to try to come up with a reasonable solution. Now, that would sound like a great idea, except the UN is portrayed as being extremely lazy and incompetent. While in the trench, the two armed soldiers have nothing to do but to wait for help... that is, if they don't kill each other first.

This is a unique film that is fresh and daring. Not a single boring minute went by during my whole viewing of the movie. It's tragic, and yet comical. The movie is able to work on every emotion, which is something that is very hard for a film to do successfully. While it is indeed a satire, the film does a good job of setting up the stage for the Bosnian-Serb conflict and gives us an idea of what was happening during that time. It's a film that will make you want to learn more about the conflict, which is something I highly recommend. After you read more about it, then watch the movie again and I guarantee you that you'll enjoy it a lot more the second time around.

The DVD is pretty standard, offering very little special features. The picture quality is crystal clear and the sound is great. The movie offers English, French and Spanish subtitles. Don't let the subtitles scare you, as they are extremely easy to read and follow. It's also easy to tell what's going on without reading too much into it. The only special feature available, aside from the subtitles, is the original theatrical trailer.

"No Man's Land" is an unforgettable experience that portrays a dark time in history. It is comical and sad at the same time. For somebody who isn't the biggest fan of foreign films, I must admit that I loved this movie. An interesting viewing, if you ask me.

An exceptional film
This film has provoked me too write my first review. No Man’s Land is a truly wonderful film and well worth of its Oscar in 2002. The film skillful illustrates the folly of war by portraying a very human relationship so often missing in the slick Hollywood production. The hopeless of the situation is frequently punctuated with wonderfully delivered black humor. A must see!!