Review of In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) by Roxanne R — 06 Jun 2012

Bravo to Angelina Jolie for demonstrating that she is as talented and skilled behind the camera as she is in front of it. Ms. Jolie wrote and directed this superb motion picture, an engaging drama taking place during the Bosnian war and Jolie does not shy away from the horrors of war and ethnic cleansing, depicting tens of thousands of women raped that it became the first time the act was prosecuted under international law as a stand-alone crime against humanity.

However; I am glad that a female director pulled it off and its still watchable whereas I suspect a male writer/director may have added more violence to the film turning it into a gruesome movie. The film starts before the war with two lovers Danijel (Goran Kostic who is a Serb) and Ajla (Zana Marjanovic, a Muslim).

They love one another but once the war breaks, Danijel is an Army Captain in charge of a military camp where tons of Muslims are held captive, the men killed, the women raped and used as cooks, etc. Danijel sees Ajla and tries to protect her by keeping all the other soldiers away from her but over the course of all the years of the conflict they try to find an equilibrium point that will balance their tricky emotional and sexual lives.

Will love conquer all? You will have to watch the film. The only reason I fail to give it five stars is due to the depressing nature of the film and its ending. Nevertheless, I highly recommend In the Land of Blood and Honey because it is based on facts and Angelina Jolie did a magnificent job with the script and the direction.