Having known several people who lived through the Bosnian war, and having been there myself to see the effects of it, I've had an interest in learning more about it. "No Man's Land" is a great example of the tensions and attitudes of the region during this time, or so I'm told by the people who were there. The movie is well made, intriguing, and a good tool for my friends to use to illustrate what they tell me about the war.

A squad of Bosnians has gotten lost in a fog and find themselves dangerously close to the Serbian lines. One of them makes it into a trench between the lines, and two Serb soldiers are sent to investigate. The Serb commander sets a mine under the body of an enemy as a booby trap, but the man turns out to be very much alive. Ciki, who has been hiding since the soldiers entered the trench, gets the best of the Serbs leaving only the rookie alive. Now it’s Ciki versus Nino arguing about who started the war and evils used by the opposing side - an argument that is won by whomever holds the gun at any particular time.

The men manage to let both sides know they are alive, but neither can get back to his line without being shot by the other side, besides which Ciki is not willing to leave his injured friend since they cannot find a way to get him off the mine without blowing them all to pieces. He is not willing to let Nino leave since the Serbs are less likely to shoot with one of their own in the target zone. The commanders call in the United Nations, but the ineffectual help they offer only makes things worse.

War movie or not this does not have the battle sequences of Black Hawk Down or Braveheart. No Man’s Land is more dialogue driven, and perhaps its biggest downfall is that if you don’t get into the tension of the political conflict and character struggles the pace will likely be boringly slow.

This movie speaks to many Bosnians deeply. Several have told me I can’t possibly get it in the same way they do. While that may be true to some extent, I still get a lot out of the movie as do many other Americans if its success at Cannes is any indication. It is full of laughs and hope that turns to despair and anger fluctuating between positive and negative always with the pressure of a violent war in the background.

Speaking of the mood, the previews I’ve seen make it sound like a much more light-hearted movie than it actually is. It may well make you laugh at times, but it is NOT a feel-good movie. It can be difficult and even depressing.

I think "No Man’s Land" and "Shot Through the Heart" make excellent companions since they look at the war from different angles. The latter shows Sarajevo before the war as well as the start of the conflict and its effects on the citizens and streets of the city. The former begins further into the conflict, deals mostly with soldiers, and looks at the politics particularly concerning the U.N.

One thing you won’t see in either movie, since neither progresses that far, is that the U.N. failed to bring peace; the U.S. military finally did that. Thanks to our efforts Sarajevo is now a city rebuilding much of its scarred beauty. It may sound like I’m bragging, and maybe I am a little (though the important thing is that they are in a position to rebuild regardless of who is responsible), but knowing of the UN’s ultimate failure may add more weight to the events of the movie since this is perhaps a look at WHY they failed.