Review of No Man`s Land

Introduction

Last year when No Man’s Land, a very well reviewed arthouse film about the Bosnian / Serbian conflict won the Oscar for best Foreign Language Film, I was amongst those who were more than a little surprised. The utterly charming Amelie was seen as an almost shoe-in due to the rave reviews and technical brilliance. So was No Man’s Land special enough to deserve that accolade?

Video

Despite this being a film without a multi million-dollar budget, with no stars and a no-name director, Momentum have treated us to an excellent picture. Although the opening scene, in the fog, is a little iffy with grain present, for the rest of the film the level of detail is consistently high with only a few instances of grain - and certainly not enough to spoil your enjoyment. The dusty colours of the trench are reproduced strongly, avoiding a low-budget feel. In consideration, a superb transfer, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen.

Audio

The audio consists of a functional 2.0 Serbo-Croat soundtrack with English subtitles. The dialogue comes across clearly and, although there are little surround effects, the artillery scenes pack a pleasant punch. As always with Momentum World Cinema titles, the subtitles are perfectly readable.

Features

Unfortunately there were no extras included on this disc, not even a trailer - but considering the budget and profile of this release this was not particularly surprising.

Conclusion

No Man’s Land is an excellent film, one of the standouts of the last few years. The film broaches the sensitive topic of the Bosnian crisis with intelligence and a wonderfully dark, M*A*S*H*-esque humour that allows heavy issues to be discussed without depressing the viewer. The two main actors are superb to a point where I would have little problem believing they were being filmed for a documentary. Tanovic has come under some criicism for using film as a medium for his own political views, but then when could a film of this type not become infused with the director’s personal feelings? What is commendable is that he satires the situation and does not instead single out either of the sides for criticism, although the mediating UNPROFOR seem overly-inept here.

Whether this is a better film than Amelie is highly debatable: they are too different to even compare. However, I cannot recommend this film more strongly to anyone with a moderate liking for films outside the Hollywood influence: No Man’s Land is one of the most gripping and powerful films I have seen all year. With there being a good quality DVD release out, although it lacks in extras, No Man`s Land is definitely worth a look.