In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

Directed by: Angelina Jolie | 127 minutes | drama, war, romance | Actors: Rade Serbedzija, Zana Marjanovic, Nikola Djuricko, Goran Kostic, Branko Djuric, Goran Jevtic, Fedja Stukan, Dolya Gavanski, Jelena Jovanova, Jasna Beri, Milos Timotijevic, Irena Mulamuhic, Boris Ler, Vanessa Glodjo, Levente Törzicic Dado Jehan, Ermin Sijamija, Aleksandar Djurica, Margaréta Szabó, Edis Zilic, Nusmir Muharemovic, Yehan Jehan

For the story of ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ we go back to the former Yugoslavia of the 1990s. A dark period in recent history, which many do not like to be reminded of. It is not the most obvious choice for a first film as a director. Still, ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ is Angelina Jolie’s debut as a director and scriptwriter. With her film, Jolie hopes to remind people once again of the enormous violence that took place in this region during the civil war. Since this war is still very sensitive from a political point of view, it is therefore a bold and commendable choice to debut with this subject.

When in the beautiful opening scene with a big explosion, the dance club where the two protagonists, the Serbian Danijel (Goran Kostic) and the Muslim woman Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), are dating is blown up, the war in Yugoslavia has officially started. Then the film jumps a few months and we meet Ajla again, this time together with her sister Lejla (Vanesa Glodjo). The war has been going on for some time now and the Serbian armies are starting to gain ground. When they storm into Ajla and Lejla’s flat, you are immediately introduced to the brutal violence that took place during this war. Unceremoniously, the men are separated from the women and children and although you don’t get to see it as a viewer, the fate of the men is clear through the gunshots that sound. This scene and the rape scene that comes almost after this make the image of the Serbian men clear, they behave like animals and ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ does not shy away from showing this painfully hard.

It is especially in the first part of the film that the brutal scenes pass by at a rapid pace. Apart from the aforementioned rapes (which are portrayed a bit too often), people are shot randomly and babies are not spared either. Although all this violence does not make you happy, the first part is by far the best of the film. Because where the tragedy of the war is well portrayed, the rest of the story is little. When Ajla is taken with a large number of other women to a kind of workshop to take care of the soldiers, she soon encounters Danijel here again. Danijel, son of military leader Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade Serbedzija), is also in the army and takes care of Ajla to protect her from the violence of the military.

The romance that subsequently blossoms between the two, or rather the lack of it, is a major flaw of the film. Danijel’s behavior in particular seems to change from scene to scene. One moment he’s tying Ajla to the bed in anger, the next he’s apologizing, only to brutally rape her a scene later, and then he falls down next to her in tears again. All these emotional states of Danijel seem to take place fairly randomly and as a viewer you actually have no idea what to think of him anymore. And while a romance (in a movie) doesn’t always have to be very beautiful and passionate, the whole thing here feels strange and you’ll never really feel connected to either of the two characters.

While the first part of ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ is worth it, as said, the same cannot be said about the second part. The film is at least half an hour too long and very little happens. Furthermore, you can also question the way in which the scenes are sometimes switched. An exciting escape attempt by Ajla is interrupted by some strange shots of Danijel as a sniper, which takes you out of the action. With ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ Angelina Jolie delivers a mixed debut film. The subject is well chosen and the film certainly has its moments, but because of the long-winded second part, when the film is over you have already forgotten that there were also a number of good parts in it.