the fresh films reviews

S I N C E   1 9 9 7










 

Grbavica (2006)

Director:
Jasmila Zbanic 
COUNTRY
Bosnia-Herzegovina/
Austria/Germany/Croatia
GENRE
Drama
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Grbavica
RUNNING TIME
100 minutes
Producer:
Barbara Albert
Damir Ibrahimovic
Bruno Wagner
Screenwriter:
Jasmila Zbanic


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Esma Mirjana Karanovic ½
Sara Luna Mijovic ½
Pelda Leon Lucey
Samir Kenan Catic
Sabina Jasna Beri
Cenga Dejan Acimovic

 

Review

This is a wonderfully balanced film from Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic about the horrors of war, seen in retrospect from the perspective of a female ex-POW and her teenage daughter. Grbavica is saturated with a pleasant everyday warmth, even if it depicts a society still struggling from the aftermaths of war. But, in Zbanic's vision, this is a society filled with potential, filled with possibilities - especially for women, who are about to cut loose from previous paternal curbs and find themselves in a new Europe. It is a film filled with insight, not only on behalf of women, but on behalf of an entire region and culture. And despite its ultimately grave subject-matter, which Zbanic describes with decency, compassion and poignancy, she more than anything wants to depict her genuine belief in people and our goodness. It is a wonderfully positive film which delves into both the horrors of war and the ordeal of coming off age. It's alternately sexy and constrained, just like East-European women, I suspect Zbanic would say.

Copyright © 7.9.2007 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

[BACK TO INDEX]

[HAVE YOUR SAY]