Review of Grbavica

This is a truly sad but beautiful masterpiece. We have heard so much about wars and atrocities that go with it. What about people who still have to live with all the nightmares and aftermaths of the atrocities on their own land, which they had once loved in an unrestrained and uninhibited manner but is now tainted with horror and sins? What have they done to deserve a life like this and what actually keeps them going but not giving up? Zbanic gives us the answer - it is love, the love of your family, the love of your home, despite it being a kind of contaminated, qualified and conflicting love which is eternally tainted with gruesome memories and haunting flashbacks. The nationalistic song sung by the students and in the end, an unsettled Sara, on the bus sums up this theme neatly and concisely.

A very genuine and down-to-earth movie which speaks so much for itself and for the victims of war crimes who are and will still be living in a war of their own emotions for the rest of their lives. Besides, the direction is simplistic with a classy emotional twist powerfully built up to the climax of the scene of Esma's confession. The ending scene is a lifetime unforgettable. No words, just a song but it sums up what Sara has to feel and say perfectly. The acting is superb, expectedly from the veteran Karanovic and pleasantly surprisingly from the teenage Luna Mijovic.

It is worth in the least Oscar nominations for the best director and the best foreign film . Go and watch it!