I first saw Srdan Dragojevic PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME just over ten years ago on channel 4 and instantly thought it was the best film to feature the conflict in the former Yugoslavia . This might be down to the fact that the Serbs are shown as being both perpetrators and victims of atrocity , something the Western press wasn't to keen on saying while the conflict was going on in the early 1990s . The media reporting was rather simplistic with the Bosniaks being totally victims and the Serbs being total bad guys so it's good seeing a film from the Serb perspective , especially one where the world isn't viewed in black and white
The film is told through a fractured storyline and the story cuts backwards and forwards between the characters when they were children living in a Socialist Yugoslavia , then it cuts to the war itself when they're trapped in a tunnel then forward to a short time when the survivors are lying maimed in a hospital . It might sound complicated but the story is very easy to follow . SLUMDOG MILLIONIRE also had a fractured storyline but that was extremely complex structure , maybe too complex for its own good where as here everything is easy to follow
You don't need to be well informed in Yugoslav history to appreciate the film fully but it does help , especially the terms for the warring factions . Croats are now known as " Krauts " and " Ustase " ( The Croation fascist movement set up by the Nazis during the war ) , the Bosnian Muslims are now known as " Turks " while the Serbs consider themselves " Chetniks " Serbian nationalist from the second world war . Setting much of the story in a dilapidated tunnel built in the socialist era and " The Tunnel Of Brotherhood And Unity " is a metaphor for the failings of Yugoslavia falling apart . It is an ironic metaphor and the film oozes scathing irony such as a bunch of peace protesters standing outside the hospital promising the injured soldiers that " No one will lie to you again " a take on Slobodan Milisosevic infamous conversation to a Serb protester battered by Muslim police in Kosovo in 1987 that " No one will beat you again "
Some people may complain that it's pro Serb but as a neutral observer it can be disputed since no one is shown as being terribly nice in a civil war . The Serbs burn down villages ( And in one brief scene another human being ) while the Muslims use a Serb rape victim as a proxy bomb . Since much of the story is told from inside the tunnel there's a feeling PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME could have easily have worked as a stage play than a film and this is a problem I had with NO MANS LAND but this movie is still slightly more cinematic . I wouldn't claim right out that it's the best film featuring the war because SAVIOR does have a slightly more emotional and human edge to it , but PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME is still a good anti-war film that is both subtle and ironic
The film is told through a fractured storyline and the story cuts backwards and forwards between the characters when they were children living in a Socialist Yugoslavia , then it cuts to the war itself when they're trapped in a tunnel then forward to a short time when the survivors are lying maimed in a hospital . It might sound complicated but the story is very easy to follow . SLUMDOG MILLIONIRE also had a fractured storyline but that was extremely complex structure , maybe too complex for its own good where as here everything is easy to follow
You don't need to be well informed in Yugoslav history to appreciate the film fully but it does help , especially the terms for the warring factions . Croats are now known as " Krauts " and " Ustase " ( The Croation fascist movement set up by the Nazis during the war ) , the Bosnian Muslims are now known as " Turks " while the Serbs consider themselves " Chetniks " Serbian nationalist from the second world war . Setting much of the story in a dilapidated tunnel built in the socialist era and " The Tunnel Of Brotherhood And Unity " is a metaphor for the failings of Yugoslavia falling apart . It is an ironic metaphor and the film oozes scathing irony such as a bunch of peace protesters standing outside the hospital promising the injured soldiers that " No one will lie to you again " a take on Slobodan Milisosevic infamous conversation to a Serb protester battered by Muslim police in Kosovo in 1987 that " No one will beat you again "
Some people may complain that it's pro Serb but as a neutral observer it can be disputed since no one is shown as being terribly nice in a civil war . The Serbs burn down villages ( And in one brief scene another human being ) while the Muslims use a Serb rape victim as a proxy bomb . Since much of the story is told from inside the tunnel there's a feeling PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME could have easily have worked as a stage play than a film and this is a problem I had with NO MANS LAND but this movie is still slightly more cinematic . I wouldn't claim right out that it's the best film featuring the war because SAVIOR does have a slightly more emotional and human edge to it , but PRETTY VILLAGE PRETTY FLAME is still a good anti-war film that is both subtle and ironic