Films/DVD Asylum

Serbo-Croatia serves up a wonderfully complex war drama in, "Witnesses." An assassination goes as planned

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except for one small misstep: there is a witness. The executioners, who had little problem in disposing of a hated local profiteer, find it more difficult summarily to take the life of an "innocent" bystander. But who is innocent, who truly guilty in a war zone where civilians, women and children, are daily casualties?
This tale is told from several viewpoints, using a non-sequential viewpoint not unlike that favored by Tarantino.
It is very well cast, well-acted, with the central character of the mother featuring a bravura performance.
And, no, you needn't care about the messy Balkan situation to enjoy this film: it is as universal as "Paths of Glory."

Follow Ups:

I enjoyed the time spent watching it, even if it is not perfect - Victor Khomenko 06:11:16 10/21/10 (0)
The movie is far from perfect, in some places it is irritatingly repetitious - the multiple funeral scene shots didn't really add anything to the story, in my view - but it is still compelling, humanist and as different from the Hurt Locker as tin is from Michelle Malkin.

Perhaps you will not get the memories of the HL while watching this film... to me they were somewhat related due to time and the common theme - effect of war on normal human beings.

But while the HL does not really raise above your typical Hollywood "action" crap, and is purely one-dimensional, the Witnesses speaks in a much more quiet voice, in undertones, speaks of confusion, devotion, revenge, pain and realities. It is a rather short movie that amazingly manages to cover great deal of human nature territory... or rather - space.

I also know why tin liked it so much - in spots it looks like typical Bela Tarr work - same gloomy dark images, slow rattling car noises in an empty quiet sleepy town scene... the sense of something awful about to happen, the horror of simple shadows.

The enemies and their conflict are only vaguely defined, they are almost at the level of a Man... a Woman... a War... and that adds to the film's appeal, as it does indeed make it more universal.

Totally recommended to any serious movie lover.

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