User Reviews

'Svjedoci' comes from a school of cinema that is very little known in the world excepting the films of Emir Kusturica. It's only a decade since the cannons went silent and the former Yugoslavia tries to cope with its new existence, broken into several national states, and tries to make some sense out of the facts that make no sense - the absurd violence that turned neighbors into war criminals, that separated destinies on the lines of religion and nationalist ambitions.

The film has certain cinematographic quality. The techniques of retelling the same story from the perspective of different characters while progressing by a bit the action each time the story is told anew may not be completely original but is well mastered. The story turns around the murder of a Serbian profiteer by a group of three Croatian soldiers and by the efforts of a journalist and her war-crippled husband to reveal the truth and save the life of the kid daughter of the victim, the sole witness of the murder. It is very well acted by a team of expressive and well-chosen actors who provide individual characterization to each of the characters who seem to live a doomed and gray life, full of fear and resignation under the permanent threat of war and death. Crime story and war drama mix while the color pallet reflects exactly the atmosphere, dull tones, permanently cloudy and pressing skies, when it does not rain. Only in the allegoric but too much out of the mood ending colors change - some hope you would say, but this is so unfit with the rest of the film that it almost tells the viewer 'look, the director was or felt obliged to stick it to his true film, but he did not really mean it'.

Yes, it's too close and to near in time for the wounds to heal. time will eventually make its effect, and until then we can expect more films to come from this troubled and lesser integrated area of Europe.

This has the most powerful last two seconds I can ever remember. Few filmmakers know how to start a film; this is not often noted because there are so many prefab devices. But far fewer know how to finish. This is truly, truly powerful and if you can see it I urge you to.

The shape of this has two characteristics, both handled well.

The most obvious is the fugue structure. We see certain scenes over and over again, each time with new information. At the same time, new information is provided by new scenes. There are no radical narrative shifts of the kind normally called "twists." But the thing does move about as far as it is possible. Motives are revealed to be different than assumed. Characters emerge from darknesses that you see them create. Time has a different meaning than usual: all the movement stays in one place. It is a narrative structure that must be very difficult to judge from the few successes.

By itself, that accretive stationary motion of narrative would be fulfilling. But here it is turned to a specific purpose. The camera flows in ways not normal: more fluid. When this happens, we want to associate it with a relationship. With dePalma for instance, that relationship is directly with the viewer. With Kar Wai Wong it is with the atmosphere. Kurosawa with the canvas.

Here, we are anchored by what parents see and children reflect. As I am not personally involved in the centuries-old Serb-Croat animosity, it may be easier for me to see the different colors of siblings here, and how they are placed to make this perspective have power.

You may want to watch this a couple times to pay attention to an interesting technique. We see several scenes over and over. Only a few times do we see the same exact shot. Usually, the setup is subtly different. Many times, the eye flows from not only a different direction but with a different curiosity. Sometimes the lighting varies as well — particularly in the all- important bar festooned with American movie posters.

Really. The last image in its context will change you forever. This film matters.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

The first thing you notice about "Svjedoci" is that the camera moves. This filmmaker makes extensive use of tracking shots in the opening scene to follow a convoy of military vehicles, and a car that carries our "witnesses". This ain't your father's, or your father's father's European art film; "Svjedoci" plays like a homage to the film-making aesthetics of Brian DePalma, or in a broader sense, the aesthetics of contemporary American film-making. And sure enough, inside a Croatian watering hole, the walls are decorated with movie posters; most notably: "Rocky" and "Jaws", two films that are distinctly mainstream and American. The police procedural, that's the genre "Svjedoci" employs to tell its story about being a good, moral Croatian. To accomplish this mammoth feat with an American sensibility strikes me as being mildly subversive, since American isn't always good and moral.

A Serbian man is shot. Croat soldiers pulled the trigger and Barbir(Drazen Kuhn) is the detective willing to prosecute the young men against the wishes of the town. "Svjedoci" wants to make the point about killing in uniform being no less despicable than killing in civilian clothes. We see the trigger-man in both guises. The trigger-man's brother is the moral compass who tries to straighten out his vigilant sibling, which diffuses the narrative somewhat, because we thought Barbir was the story's appointed moral compass. As they say, too many moral compasses spoil the soup. In other words, one hero is more than enough.

Somebody is in the shed. The fourth witness is in the shed. Wasting away to nothing, presumably, since nobody is glimpsed providing the prisoner with any sustenance. While the filmmaker occupies himself with all his narrative pyrotechnics(he's no doubt seen "Memento"), "Svjedoci" underestimates the power in getting to know the enemy as a person while his/her fate is being determined. One brother treats this Serb as a human being, while the other brother treats his enemy as collateral damage.

Should a child, "Svjedoci" asks the viewer, pay for the sins of the father, who is a collaborator for the enemy? To my surprise, "Svjedoci" isn't some grim movie about life during wartime in Croatia. It's an entertainment first, message second, sort of movie.

At first, I was a bit skeptic about this movie. It's because I'm sick of watching endless stories about war and especially about this theme. About endless hate between Croatians and Serbians. But this movie really surprised me and I liked it very much.

Story takes place in war and we follow story of three Croatian soldiers (Josko, Vojo and Baric) who came home and they killed one Serbian civilian and kidnapped his daughter. All of this happened from their frustration because Serbian soldier killed one Croatian in war. That killed man was father of Josko and Kreso, who is unfamiliar with this kidnapping story because he was in hospital, due to his injury in war.

Brilliant portrayal of people in war, with no more characters then it has. Everything is so well made and the whole story goes great. I think ending is just perfect and it presents director's vision. That one day we can all live in peace and that we can all live together, no matter what nationality we are.

Director Vinko Bresan made very good movie and in movie we can see very well known Croatian actors. From big roles to smaller ones. Quality of movie was recognized on film festivals all around the world (Berlin, Jeruzalem, Netherlands, Karlovy Vary and of course in Croatia).

WITNESESSES emphasizes and illustrates the profound dread and horror of War from a fresh and different perspective. This film is not about armed military combat, but examines how actions and feelings engendered on the front lines reverberate through society. The Bosnian Conflict of the 1990's is employed as a metaphor to demonstrate how partisan violence and ethnic hatred manifested on the battlefield exact a toll on the civilian community. The film opens with a long scene in which three soldiers move into position to set up an explosive device at a civilian home in a dark and empty city. Without warning, the owner opens the front door, looks out, and is shot down in cold blood. Later, as dawn breaks, we witness the beginnings of a crime scene investigation. From here, the film loops back to a much earlier part in the narrative, and the film continues to move forwards and backwards in time until all of the motivations, reasons, and ramifications of this killing are revealed. It might seem that this unique approach to storytelling would be confusing, yet the narrative is quite easily understood. Vinko Bresan, the director, attempts to reveal that 'War' might be more accurately seen as the sum total of a myriad of individual 'murders', and although sanctioned by the state, each killing demands that a moral and ethical price must be paid. WITNESSES uses the prism of a criminal investigation to show how revenge and retribution might be the most damaging side effect of War.

I saw "Svjedoci" at the Motovun International Film Festival (2003, August) and I was dumbfounded that someone can make a film about something that is of no interest to him. "Svjedoci" should be the film about war crimes against Serbs during the war in Croatia (l991-1995). Opposite of that, we saw badly directed and even worse acted movie about an accidental murder. It is obvious that Bresan's aim was to impress that he is the first who shoot the film about "taboo" theme in Croatia. On the contrary, the result was dishonourable, false and artificial film.

In the vote history i saw many bad marks that were given to this film and feel that they don't reflect on the true quality of the movie. the average of 4.9 is funny to say the least. The film was awarded a sort of peace prize at the 2004 Berlinale and besides if you are not from our country i find that people perhaps didn't understand the film. Although i saw it a long time ago i can remember that the movie had fine acting, great direction and cinematography and a true story to back it up that was masterfully adapted. also what is worth mentioning is that the movie was sort of blacklisted and attacked because of it's sensitive subject to most of people who live in our country. now this could have hurt it's chances but still i don't see Americans blacklisting apocalypse now or the deer hunter and both films don't reflect too well on America and the Vietnam war. all in all i think people who see it subsequently should try to look past the controversy and take the movie for what it is.