One of the biggest themes presented by Tanovic was the possession of power and where it comes from. Chairman Mao of China once said: "Power flows from the barrel of a gun." This was true for Tanovic's film as well. Throughout the movie we see that whoever has the most guns has the power. The fact that the power changes hands from one side to the other shows that nobody really has the upper hand in this conflict.
Another thing that Tanovic highlighted was the UNPROFOR's unwillingness to do anything to help the conflict. When the men in no man's land were first spotted, both sides alerted NATO of the situation in hopes that they could fix it. An APC is immediately sent to the site but is soon called back by the NATO commander because he "doesn't have the authority." This is also highlighted when Dubois decides that he can't help the man on the mine and pulls back all of his forces in order to hide the gruesome truth from the press. Tanovic is showing the complete ineffectiveness of NATO to stop the conflict from happening.
No Man's Land is a great film that shows the grittiness of war and the comedy that can come with it. This wonderful film created by Danis Tanovic is a must-see and should not be chalked up as "one of those foreign films."
I disagree with your statement that the two sides having extreme hatred for each other is surprising. In fact most wars are fought against two people or even people from the same country who have a lot of hatred for each other. There are endless examples of this: the Israeli-Palistinian war, the US-Afganistan war, the North-South Korean War, World War 2, etc. This is the story of the majority of wars. Just because Hollywood often adds elements into its movies such as romance that make the war not seem as bad, doesn't mean that it's actually what happens.
ReplyDeleteThere are parts of your review that I both agree and disagree with. First off, I feel that the idea of the man with the gun having power is very true. Whenever the guns would switch hands, there was a huge change in demeanor in the personality of the one lacking the power. I also agree that it was tragic that the UN did very little to help the situation and attempt to use this tragedy as a gateway for peacekeeping talks. Yet I feel within No Man's Land there was a bond that occurred between Ciki and Nino when they were isolated with little hope of ever receiving help. They exchanged stories, laughed, and even helped each other out, but once outside influences were back in the picture their hatred for each other began again. This was interesting to me because behind the fighting between the two nations lies average men who in fact share many things and are able to get along.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the theme that power comes from the possession of weapon. I suggest describing how cinematography was used in enhancing the theme. It could be a high angle shot that that makes the subject looks inferior.
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