SnoopyStyle A group of Bosnian reinforcements gets lost in the fog at night. They wake up and get mowed down by the Serbs. Čiki finds himself alone. The Serbs send out an old veteran and newbie Nino to check. They find a body and the grizzled veteran places a bouncing mine under it. Čiki kills the veteran and takes Nino hostage. The body turns out to be Cera who isn't actually dead. The three struggle as the UNPROFOR comes to evacuate whoever is stranded in no man's land. Marchand tries to call in somebody to defuse the mine but his commander Soft insists that they leave immediately. TV reporter Jane Livingstone (Katrin Cartlidge) hears the exchange on the radio and threatens to shine a light on the ineffective UN.I really like the UN and the black comedy they do. The language barrier is always funny. The ridiculous nature of their work is good for a laugh. I'm not as enamored with the Serb and Bosnian soldiers. It bothers me that they keep not killing each other. It doesn't make any sense that the Bosnian doesn't kill Nino right away. He should kill Nino and try to sneak out during the night. After that, it seems the situation never gets right. I think it would be better to not see how they got into their situation. The movie could start with UN arriving at the checkpoint. There also has to be a better way to make a standoff situation. I wonder if the UN find the two man both stepping on a mine. They can't kill each other because the mines would blow. It would allow them to argue with no holds barred. I don't buy that these guys would take prisoners.

Girish Gowda 'No Man's Land' is a black comedy set amidst an ethnic cleansing war in a catch-22 situation. Set in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap. A UN unit go against their orders to help them.The opening night scene is powerful. The chaos, confusion and paranoia of conflict is quite realistic. The absurdity, intensity as well as the senselessness of war is shown well to an extent and there were times when the humor was very well done. I was surprised by the use of so much English in the movie, along with some French dialogues.'No Man's Land' is almost undone by the director's (who fought in the war as well) obvious partiality towards the Bosnian Muslims. The UN and the Serbs are nothing more than caricatures. Serbs are trivialized (in his opinion) as men who prefer other men (I thought that scene would have had more meaning than that and hence was disappointed) while the Muslim, Ciki is a completely heterosexual man who prefers busty, long-legged lasses. Serbs are mainly portrayed as fat, lazy, hateful and incompetent, while the opposite is true for the Muslims. The movie also chides the UN for not butting in (in addition to providing humanitarian aid) and ending the war. The UNPROFOR officer is shown as an obnoxious pervert and I'd wager there were many like him in real-life. But, all these things point to just one thing and that's propaganda. It also falters in the end when the journalists don't check out the trench and it just doesn't fit in with the character, much like Ciki shooting Nino.It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2002. While it certainly is a worthwhile movie, I cannot imagine how this won an Academy Award. It must be because of the topical issue of the twin tower blasts in the US at the time which had an enormous impact on Americans, since both Lagaan (that got lost in translation) and Amelie which were nominated that year were true masterpieces.7/10

Jack Coen Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.So much I have read, so much has been written about this academy award movie, but it's still somewhere in the dark, i'm wondering why ? I advice every one see this post don't skip the film just because it's Serbo-Croatian, No Man's Land is a great, amazing and fascinating black-humor war movie, It talks about two soldiers from different sides (Serbian and Bosnian), and their struggling for each country.What I liked the most is that DANIS TANOVIC, who is Bosnian director, did not refer positively on his homeland, you can see the balance between those two sides. However, the film is full with symbolics and the storyline is interesting with some black humor in it, Performances are also great, specially Branko Djuric, who was nominated for European Film Award. Too bad he didn't win. People who understand this symbolic film, they will see and discover the real picture of suffering and agony in this 4-year war against Bosnia. I am so glad Danis could find the excellent way to show it, through symbolism.4/5

Lee Eisenberg The horror that engulfed the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s seemingly couldn't get depicted in comedy. But Danis Tanović's "No Man's Land" does just that, albeit as black comedy. It portrays a Bosnian (Branko Djuric) and a Serb (Rene Bitorajac) getting trapped in a foxhole together with a man laying on a mine that will explode if he gets up. Slowly but surely, the news gets out, and the incident is the center of attention.This movie isn't about the war as much as it's about how the world saw - or wanted to see - the events, and simply the inanity of everything that happened in Bosnia following its independence. The absolute futility of war and colonialism/imperialism is summed up by a repeated line: "I say that it's true because I have a gun and you don't." Not to mention what happens when UNPROFOR gets involved and the media starts covering it.Without a doubt, "Ničija zemlja" (the title in Bosnian) doesn't paint a pretty picture of international affairs: aside from the genocide itself, there was the helplessness of the foreign governments to do anything about it, and the "human interest story" approach that the press took, much like in Rwanda (which one character mentions). One could consider these the troika of tragedies in any tragic situation. But I definitely recommend the movie. The fact that things similar to the depicted events keep happening casts a sorry shadow on our world.Also starring Katrin Cartlidge as a reporter and Simon Callow as a general.