Review of Quo Vadis, Aida? (2021) by Bertobellamy — 04 Jul 2021

"Now you will see the real film," says a Serbian soldier just before one of the most wrenching scenes I've seen in a long time. It's as if director Jasmila Zbanic is warning us about the madness that is the "fiction" that comes after: the crude reality of a country going on despite all the suffering as if nothing had happened.

'Quo Vadis, Aida?' really hit me. I lay there motionless witnessing the horrors of war. Why did the atrocity represented here happen? The film clearly points to the inefficiency of the UN; it's just frustrating seeing them as mere spectators of the whole crisis.

Jasna Djuricic's role as Aida is so powerful, and it really deserved more recognition. The way she translates the concern of a mother in the most difficult of situations is very convincing. It took me a while to finally see this film, and I just have to thank Zbanic for exploring a very painful chapter of the history of her country and the whole world.