No Man's Land (2001 film)
| No Man's Land | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Danis Tanović |
| Written by | Danis Tanović |
| Produced by | Čedomir Kolar |
| Starring | Branko Đurić Rene Bitorajac Filip Šovagović |
| Distributed by | Unknown |
Running time | 98 mins |
No Man's Land is a war drama that is set in the midst of the Bosnian war in 1993. It is a bleakly funny parable packed with irony. The film marked the debut of writer and director Danis Tanović. No Man's Land has been compared to Catch-22, M*A*S*H and Waiting for Godot for containing equal parts of irony and futility.
Plot outline
Template:Spoiler Two wounded soldiers, one Bosniak (Čiki, played by Branko Đurić) and one Serb (Nino, played by Rene Bitorajac) are caught between their lines in the no man's land, in a struggle for survival. The two soldiers confront each other in a trench, where they wait for dark. They trade insults and even find some common ground. Confounding the situation is a another wounded Bosniak soldier (Cera, played by Filip Šovagović) who wakes from unconsciousness. A landmine had been buried beneath him by the Bosnian Serbs. Should he make any move, it would be fatal. A French sergeant, of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), gets involved in effort to help the three trapped soldiers, despite initial orders to the contrary by high command. UNPROFOR's mission in Bosnia was to guard the humanitarian aid convoys, to remain neutral and act as more a bystander. However, an English reporter arrives on scene, bringing media pressure to bear that moves the United Nations high command to swing in to action to try to save the soldiers.
Awards
- Best Foreign Language Film, 2001 74th Annual Academy Awards
- Best Foreign Language Film, 2002 Golden Globe Award
- Best Screenplay, 2001 Cannes Film Festival