30 Second Bottom Line: Two soldiers in the Bosnia war in 1993, one Serbian and the other Bosnian, come face to face in a no mans land and must decide if they will get along or kill one another. They have a woman friend in common, which gives them a potential bond for friendship. But only a few hundred yards away on either side of their trench are their respective armies, ready to kill the one from the opposing side.

Story Line: Much of the film is summed up when the difference is explained between a pessimist and an optimist. The pessimist thinks that things can't get any worst and the optimist knows they can. A relief squad is moving to what they think is a safe area but decides to stop because the night fog is so heavy. When the sun rises and the fogs burns off, they realize they are in prime killing ground for the enemy and most of the squad is wiped out. Chiki is wounded and makes it to a trench on the border between the two enemy entrenchments. As he tries to regroup and decide what to do, he picks up a partially used cigarette and becomes desperate when he has no way to light it. Seeing his friend Cera lying wounded and motionless on the battlefield in the kill zone, he takes a chance to retrieve his cigarette lighter. He's successful at that and thinks he's OK until he hears other soldiers approaching.

Nino, a rookie soldier and an experienced comrade whose name he does not even know, have low crawled to the trench to ensure that no one has survived. Cera was brought into the trench by Nino and his comrade and then placed on a land mine set to explode when his body was moved. A gun battle ensues which results in Chiki and Nino being in the trench together with both being wounded.

When a UN peace keeper and Jane, a reporter from Global News Network realize what is going on, the events become much more interesting than just how Chiki and Cera try to reach an accommodation with one another.

The peace keeper wants to carry out the mission of the UN and have a positive effect on the warring factions. His superiors however, are weak-kneed politicians who seem more interested in having a presence than having an impact. Jane is the reporter you love to hate. If she does not show the public, which in this case, is the world (ala CNN), something worth being glued to the TV for, then the world just does not care as much because it's not personal to them. Her bosses want her to be in the action and while she does not try to make things happen, when they do, she'd better be there and get it on camera.

Tell Me More About It: As the director Danis Tanovic said during a Q&A after the screening of this at the Chicago International Film Festival, over 9,000 Bosnians were killed under the oversight of the UN when they literally did nothing. It was akin to our US military knowing that planes were enroute to the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001 and they did nothing about it even if there would have been plenty of time.

It becomes clear why we have a love hate relationship with journalists and news organizations. We want them to be there to show us what is going on ideally in real time(seeing that second plane crash into the World Trade towers and later watching both buildings implode is quite different from looking at it on videotape). A lot more people saw that live than saw Lee Harvey Oswald get shot on live TV in 1963, but anyone that did remembers it vividly. While we want to see these things live, often the way reporters get in position is to either be lucky or in this case, pushy and diplomatic. Jane was in the business of reporting the news, not fundamentally making the news. She did not create the situation that resulted in the men being on the battlefield, but her very presence can influence what they do on the battlefield.

No Man's Land won the Cannes prize for best screenplay and anyone that sees this film would find that hard to argue even without knowing what the competition was. I very seldom use superlatives in films, but in this case I feel comfortable in saying that the screenplay is indeed brilliant. The director Danis Tanovic lives in Severjo and he understands the conflict between the Serbs and Bosnians. Add that knowledge to the ability to tell a story in a creative way, and we have a film that is potentially a masterpiece. I can't think of anything I don't like about the film or any improvement that could be made. That said, I'm sure that although the film has a balanced view from many, there are some Serbs who may think it's more weighted toward a sympathetic view of Bosnian citizens. That for sure was the case with a few members in the audience during the Q&A after the film.

Although five languages are spoken in the film, you are unaware of it because of the excellent subtitles. The violence is not gruesome other than the fact that war kills so many people in an often-impersonal way. The spicy language is mostly use of the f word.

The film was made in only 36 days and of those, it rained for 10. During the first seven days, the prospects were not good as a truck with props crashed into a canyon, the costume woman had a heart attack and the directors uncle died.

The characters in the films leave a lasting impression, even the German soldier who is a mine expert and Jane's boss back at GNN studios giving her a sense of urgency to catch the action.

The ending of this film is profound to the point of leaving you speechless. You know what is going to happen and you can't help but wonder how you would feel to be in the position of a given soldier. The more I think about it the more it becomes clear that not only is war a bad thing, but if man can't find a way to get along, things will by definition get worse, much worse. With life being short by any definition, who has time for war?

Chiki: Branko Djuric	Cera: Flip Sovagovic
Nino: Rene Bitorajac	Jane: Katrin Cartlidge
Director: Danis Tanovic