What I want to say right away is that As If I Am Not There is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. The film, for lack of a better way to express how I feel, punched me in the gut. The realism of the film, paired with the brilliant performance by Natasha Petrovic, brought the horrors of the Bosnian War to life in terms of the pain and the terror felt by many women. Also, for the most part, it brought to life a lot of the historical context surrounding the war. As shown in the film, men of all ages from rural villages, except young boys, were rounded up and shot on the spot throughout the more rural parts of Bosnia. The women were brought to concentration camps mainly stationed in warehouses and raped relentlessly. The one historical aspect of the film that I question is the ongoing "relationship" Samira held with the Captain. While we should more accurately label this act as survival sex on Samira's part, how often did these kinds of relationships occur in these camps? I understand that this storyline was most likely needed to be a complicated part of the overall narrative of the film, but would this kind of relationship have readily occurred to a woman who was not from Sarajevo and thus perhaps considered more modern by the Serbian soldiers when compared to her rural village counterparts? I do not believe that these acts of relations with the Captain were common and historically accurate for the majority of women who were placed in these camps, especially in terms of the meals and baths afforded Samira by the Captain. Though overall, Juanita Wilson did an extraordinary job with conveying the feelings of the women with little dialogue and unforgettable emotional messages. It is hard to find much fault in a movie that moves you so deeply and resonates with you for long after the credits finish rolling on the screen.
Review of As If I Am Not There
