Review of In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) by Ned P — 12 Nov 2012

I am of Serbo-Ccroatian descent so politically I have no preferences for the warring sides in this movie. Maybe I have been out of my home country for too long, maybe I missed a key part of the thick English spoken dialogue but this movie made absolutely no sense to me.

What is the message? That war is cruel and terrifying? That could have been and has been explained better. Is it a love story? If so, story is horrific. Does it explain the reasons behind the Bosnian war? Not really, especially not for someone who is not informed about it already.

The strained captive/lover relationship is dubious. Does he wants her as a partner or prisoner? Could he not attempt some exile for both of them or try to reconcile the warring sides? What was his mindset as he went on bloody rampages during the day just after he spent a night with her? What was she thinking about all day long while waiting for him to return knowing that he was on the missions of death for Muslims? I guess the love can be strange, beautiful and twisted all at once but this flick has no clear statement about anything.

Lately with movies like Salt and Tourist, I have been loosing my respect in Jolie. This directorial debut is not helping. Here's two stars but I have hard time justifying the second one. Maybe just for the attempt to make a movie about Bosnia.