4/5
DVD release: USA
Country of origin: Croatia
Pros:
Strong cast
Excellent story
Great storytelling concept
Strong mood lighting
Cons:
Initially confusing, but eventually you get it
Some parts (but not many) do move slowly
Synopsis:
Croatia, 1992. In a small village near the front-line, three drunken Croatian soldiers plan to take revenge on a Serb by targeting his house. The man turns out to be at home and gets shot. But there is a witness: his eleven-year-old daughter… Director Brešan tells the story from different perspectives, with the web of tangled relationships and dependencies among the villagers only becoming clear towards the end.
Review:
This film is based on the bestseller "The Plaster Sheep" by Jurica Pavicic; which is based on a true story which occurred in 1991. And director Vinko Bresan has done an excellent job translating the book onto film. In fact this film was nominated for an oscar for Best Foreign Film. A well deserved nomination.
Three Croatian soldiers after a night of drinking decide to burn down the house of a Serbian family. Not expecting the family to be home, the men only intended to burn the house down and not kill anyone. While attempting to set the fire they are surprised by the homeowner who is home. Startled, one of the soldiers shoots and kills the man. The three then take off and try to figure out what to do next.
But it's during the investigation of the murder that the story really takes off. We see three different witness accounts of what happened. Sort of like Kurosawa's Rashomon, but with the major difference being that, here all accounts come to the same conclusion.
Although I make reference to Rashomon this is by no means a cheap copy of that film. Director Bresan does a great job telling this story in his own way. For instance, although all the witness accounts are for the most part the same, with each story we see and learn a bit more about what happened. It would've been easier for Bresan to just tell the story three times over. But instead, he adds a few more details each time around to keep you interested and eventually tell the whole story.
What I really like is the lighting of this film. Being that this is a story of murder, the whole story is dark. A lot of the outdoor daytime scenes are overcast and not brightly lit. Even the funeral of one of the killer's father take place during a heavy downpour. There are also a lot of night time scenes and darkly lit rooms. So, the mood is dark and dreary which suits this story perfectly.
Film Movement has again given us another great DVD release. The picture quality is great. The film is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The audio is of course in Croatian and has English subtitles. Sound is in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.
Like all other Film Movement releases this comes with a short film. The short here is the Indian film Little Terrorist. A 10-year old Pakistani boy accidentally crosses the India-Pakistan border. He is spotted by some Indian border guards and immediately fired upon. This forces him to run further into India. Where he happens upon a man who helps him by taking the boy to his village and with the help of his daughter hides him there until they can return him to his home.
Overall a nice package.
