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Patricia Clements���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����� June 17, 2002 |
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No Man's Land |
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Early one morning in Bosnia, June 1993, a group of Bosnian soldiers find themselves lost in the fog between enemy front lines.� As the sun comes up, Serb soldiers discover the Bosnians and attack, and Ciki (Branko Djuric), manages to hide himself in an abandoned trench in the middle of "no man's land."� No Man's Land is a French film, directed by Danis Tanovic, about three soldiers trapped between enemy lines and how politics play a part in what is exposed to the media and the public. |
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When the Serbian commander sends two of his soldiers to inspect the trench, Ciki hides and the two Serbs find nothing, but before they leave they set up a booby trap.� They lay one of the dead Bosnian soldiers, Cera (Filip Sovagovic), on the ground over a spring mine.� As they finish the job, they notice that a rifle that was there minutes before is now missing, they realize someone is hiding in the trench.� Cornered, Ciki jumps out of his hiding place, kills one of the soldiers and wounds the other, Nino (Rene Bitorajac). |
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For a short while, Ciki and Nino are left alone in the trench.� Then, to their amazement, Cera regains consciousness.� He wasn't dead, just knocked unconscious, and if he moves, the mine will explode, killing all of them.� Although Nino and Ciki are distrustful of each other, they decide they have to work together to find a way out of their predicament.� They nearly kill themselves in the process, but finally manage to attract their respective sides' attention.� Both the Serbians and the Bosnians call the local United Nations UNPROFOR base for assistance. |
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Sergeant Marchand (Georges Siatidis), a UN French blue helmet, receives a call about the situation from his superior in Sarajevo.� Upon arrival at the trench, however, high command orders him not to intervene in the potentially volatile situation.� Frustrated, Marchand decides to disobey orders and see what he can do to help.� He obtains the assistance of a mine squad, but is forced to turn back when his superiors threaten serious action if he doesn't resume his post.� As Marchand leaves the trench, the tension between Ciki and Nino grows.� They almost kill each other. |
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On the way back to his post, Marchand meets Jane Livingstone (Katrin Cartlidge), an international TV journalist, working for the Global News Network, who already knows all about the situation.� Jane intercepted Marchand's radio communications with his superior and threatens to expose their "non-intervention" course of action.� Marchand is soon back at the trench, only this time he's shielding Nino, Ciki, and Cera from the press.� He arrives just in time to stop Nino and Ciki yet again from killing each other. |
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UNPROFOR troops and the mine squad gather and the world's press circles as "no man's land" begin to look more like a circus than a battlefield.� At UN High Command in Zagreb, it's a difficult situation for Colonel Soft (Simon Callow), who has watched the situation escalate on the news.� Soft decides to fly in to gain status with the media, and hopefully prevent an embarrassing disaster. |
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Back in the trench, the mine expert inspects the still booby-trapped Cera, but tells Marchand that the situation is hopeless and that there's nothing he can do.� Colonel Soft arrives and quickly agrees there is nothing to be done but come up with a strategy that will save UNPROFOR's honor. |
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Ciki and Nino are finally forced to emerge from the trench, leaving Cera lying on the mine.� The stress of the situation once again worsens the tension between them.� In a chaotic climax of the day's events, the absurdity of their situation takes its final toll and Ciki and Nino shoots and kills each other.� General Soft lies to the reporters about Cera's rescue and orders them to leave the area.� After the reporters leave, General Soft and his men leave, leaving Cera lying on the ground over the bomb awaiting his death. |
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Edward Johnson-Ott concludes, "As Tanovic widens his scope to include the outsiders, the farcical aspect of his story becomes a bit more pronounced, at times too much so. Luckily, the gravity of the three soldiers' situation takes center stage again as the story heads towards its stunning conclusion. I doubt I will ever forget the closing image of "No Man's Land." I agree completely with this statement because I too will never forget the closing image of this movie.� No Man's Land is a statement against the tragedies of war and how the media and the public can be misled by corrupted officials and how that can cause one man the precious gift of life. |
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Works Cited |
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No Man's Land Official Site. 17 June 2002. <http://www.ocean-films.com/nomansland>. |
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Johnson-Ott, Edward. Reviews On-Line. 17 June 2002. <http://www.all-reviews.com>. |
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Berardinelli, James. Film Review. 17 June 2002. <http://www.movie-reviews.colossus.net>. |
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