Angelina Jolie Directs In the Land of Blood And Honey

The Serbian war drama reviewed

It's 1992, and Ajla (Zana Marjanovic) and Danijel (Goran Kostic) are about to hook up at a Bosnian nightclub when they're interrupted by a bomb blast.

In the Land of Blood and Honey
In the Land of Blood and Honey

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ArcLight Hollywood

6360 W. Sunset Blvd.
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A few months later, Ajla is one of dozens of women rounded up and bused to a detention camp, where the all-female, all-Muslim prisoners are kept to satisfy Serbian male soldiers' apparently endless appetite for rape.

Turns out Danijel is a commander at the camp, pressed into action by his dad (Rade Serbedzija), a general who is both seriously evil and tasked with explaining his side's political motivations for a Western audience.

"One million Serbs killed in World War II, and now they want us to live in a Muslim state?" he fumes — one of many times when the opening title's suggestion that the region's various ethnic groups "lived in harmony" before the Yugoslav wars is exposed as a lie.

Still infatuated with Ajla, Danijel "protects" her by not letting anyone else rape her. After she lets him fuck her in laughably stylized soft focus, he teaches her how to escape. Later, at a different camp, she allows herself to be kept as his "Muslim whore."

First-time director Angelina Jolie clearly aims to keep Ajla's allegiances ambiguous. Is she doing what she has to do to survive? Is she a spy? Would either necessarily preclude a romantic connection to her captor?

Though Jolie spends much screen time trying to humanize Danijel to the point that we might believe Ajla could love him or that he could change, the relationship doesn't gestate enough for sincere romantic feelings on her end to seem plausible; the denouement that sorts it all out moves from predictable tragedy to ludicrous redemption.

The winter-light, handheld cinematography suggests at least someone on set has seen a recent Romanian movie, but closing titles confirm that Jolie's motivating intent in making In the Land of Blood and Honey was activist rather than artistic.

Throughout her career, Jolie has carefully constructed a persona as the anti–movie star, but in using her wealth and status to make a United Nations extra-credit project that pointedly criticizes the United States for not intervening earlier and more forcefully in a conflict now safely in history's rearview mirror, she has produced a sanctimonious vanity commercial for her own good intentions.

That's about as Hollywood as it gets.

IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY | Written and directed by ANGELINA JOLIE | Film District | ArcLight Hollywood

 
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3 comments
North American Zene Zrtve Rata
North American Zene Zrtve Rata

Firstly, I would like to inform you that our organization, "Zene Zrtve Rata" and equally; all women of rape whom went through the scariest, unthinkable things during this war(Genocide against Bosnian people) do not get anything(donot gain profit) from the world supporting us, whilst Angelina Jolie has filmed a movie with UNTRUTH's and not our TRUTH. Angelina Jolie, instead of bringin this tragedy to light, not only as an artist yet on another plateau, after all she is a woman for God's sake. The story which NEVER took place on the grounds of Bosnia and Hercegovina is very demeaning to us in the manner which she has shown it. No even a pathologically sick person in a concentration camp could fall in love, in the manner Angelina Jolie has depicted. In fact, the "UNTOLD LOVE STORY" now known as "In the Land of Blood and Honey" AJ has tried to show the world untruths, that someone fell in love with her captor and someone whom is creating all her suffering? Love in captivity is only for your closest and dearest, mother, children, sister, brother and not for a captor.

WE raised our voice then and areraising our voice again and are sending in this manner, in our name, ZENE ZRTVE RATA (Women Victim's of WAR), without ethnic borders, our voice against crimes specifically systematic rape against Bosnian women which Karadzic and Mladic put women through! That is what Angelina Jolie should have filmed, but OUR TRUTH does not sell films!

Our witnessing, face to face at the International Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), courts all over the world and the Court of Bosnia and Hercegovina is a historic witnessing of that time of what truely transpired. Innnocent people were victims' in this land, blood ran throughthis land, which was never a land of honey! Genocide occured and the world should never forget this as we have not.Someone, whom is not from Bosnia and Hercegovina, can EVER TRANSLATE and PLAY with the history of this country, nor with her now or tomorrow. Many feel they can, but above them are even stronger and more powerful forces. This attempt of Angelina Jolie's to bring down our truth to a level of a love story with those whom are GUILTY in this war is shameful.The tragedy of this country and it's people she is creating a party. Shameful! With her film, she is insulting every innocent vitim, falsifying history, truely falsifying, untruthfully creating a picture of Bosnia and Hercegovina in the world. It is a defamation of the character of it's people and the country itself. Why is she doing this and in the name of what? Only she knows the answer to that. It is irrelevant whom, Angelina nor others of the like, WE will raise our voice against this and anything else FALSE that coems our way. Ittelevant of the shame we lived through, how much we lost to these criminals whom committed crime's against humanity. We women are proud and against these types of attempts at our psyche, our city, our country and us.

With respect, Bakira Hasecic, President Zene Zrtve Rata (this organization is for rape victims and against the aggressors causing rapes and the Geonocide in Bosnia and Hercegovina)

Mamawabbit
Mamawabbit

I could only imagine what you would write about her if she aimed at ANY other theme.. If you call a vanity such a humane theme about suffering and injustice, it is interesting to see what other theme would seem real true honest and sincere to YO..

Greginmtk
Greginmtk

Since it's as un-Hollywood as it can get...it seems you don't get it all.

 

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