Review of In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) by Cynthia S — 05 May 2012

Watch it in Bosnian with subtitles in English. It is way better!

"Jolies two protagonists are Bosniak Muslim painter Ajla (Zana Marjanovia) and Bosnian Serb policeman Danijel (Goran Kostia): in the moive early pre-war scenes, which suggest Sarajevo as a paradise of an ethnic melting pot, they appear about to launch themselves into a heartfelt relationship, but a bomb blast in the dancehall where Ajla and Danijel meet puts a dramatic stop to it" (Andrew Pulver). Danijel will be a soldier fighting for the Serbs, and Ajla will be held captive in the camp he oversees. As the armed conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship grows darker, their motives and connection to one another ambiguous.

Bosnia-Herzegovina had 4.4 mi people before war with the most complex mix of religious traditions among the former Yugoslav republics: 44% Bosniaks (Muslims), 31% Bosnian Serb (Eastern Orthodox), and 17% Bosnian Croat (Roman Catholics). Bosnians Muslims are Slavs who converted to Islam centuries ago. From World War I until the end of the Cold War, Bosnia was part of the newly created country of Yugoslavia. Bosnia declared independence in March 1992, and the Bosnian war started right after. Prior to the war, a former psychiatrist (Radovan Karadzic) created a renegade army with the support of Bosnian Serbs in Bosnia. In 1992, Bosnian Serb nationalists began a systematic policy of âcleansingâ? large areas of Bosnia of non-Serbs. Bosnia was attacked by the Yugoslav National Army, Bosnian Serb nationalists, and Bosnian Croat nationalists. The siege of Sarajevo lasted 43 months. Rape was very present in this war. Estimates of the numbers raped range from 20,000 to 50,000. This has been referred to as âmass rapeâ?. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) declared that systematic rapes, and sexual enslavement in time of war was a crime against humanity, second only to the war crime of genocide.