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With In the Land of Blood and Honey, first-time writer and director Angelina Jolie sets out to bring to the world’s attention the dangers of ethnocentric and nationalistic ideology and the devastating effects of doing nothing about it. While her grim love story, set in the backdrop of the Bosnian war, certainly gets across the point of reminding younger generations about the horrible things that have gone on before, it’s what it doesn’t do that‘s the bigger story here.
In narrowing the focus of the ridiculously convoluted political and military conflict that raged in Eastern Europe during the early ‘90s down to a romantic relationship between two members from either side of the warring factions, that relationship had better become a place of refuge for the viewer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Jolie’s graphic depictions of the horrors of war, including the murder of a baby, women being effectively used as human shields, and the filling of mass graves, constantly dance along the edges of being too much for the viewer to handle. While certainly needed for effect, we also crave the comfort of a place to rest. To catch our breath. A romance angle should be that place, but unfortunately the relationship that develops between the main characters is just as murky and difficult to reconcile as the overly complicated conflict that forms the film’s back story.
Ajla and Danijel are the lovebirds at the center of the film that plays out like a Greek tragedy. We first meet Ajla (played by Bosnian Muslim actress Zana Marjanovic) as she’s preparing for her first date with Serbian, Danijel (played by Serbian actor Goran Kostic). She’s an aspiring Bosnian Muslim artist living with her sister Lejla (Vanesa Glodjo) and infant nephew; he’s the son of a Serbian officer at conflict with his place in the war, questioning it, but never quite man enough to follow through with the questioning.
As the couple nuzzles while dancing, their romantic interlude is harrowingly interrupted by a bomb that rips through the nightclub. The war is on, and each realizes that due to ethno-religious divisions, they’re on opposite sides of the conflict.
Ajla soon ends up in a dreary snowbound detention camp of sorts run by Serbian soldiers but fortuitously headed by Danijel who refrains from a public raping of Ajla. The rape of Bosnian women by Serbian soldiers seems to be one of the war’s most effective means of intimidation as well as a sadistically entertaining way of passing idle time. These assaults are often depicted very graphically on screen, including one in the film’s opening scene that warns of the harrowing nature of what’s to come.
Danijel protects Ajla from his men, knowing that he can’t afford for their secret to be discovered by his fellow compatriates. The two begin a sexual relationship that always feels more symbolic than romantically tenable. One of the film’s strongest themes gets its energy from our questioning of whether two people can be in love when one is being held captive by the other. But the questions go mostly unanswered. Danijel may be acting on some kind of sick perverted power trip, and whether Ajla is experiencing some elements of the Stockholm Syndrome or just doing whatever is necessary to stay alive is never made quite clear. Our “happy place” from the film’s appalling war elements is just as unsettling. Jolie goes out of her way to demonstrate how the ravages of war have a twisting, perverted effect on all aspects of normal life, but a bit less lightly sketched relationship might have helped us understand whether each is truly in love, or just questioning the faux domesticity of each other’s companionship.
Jolie clearly knows where to put the camera for maximum effect and she shows greater than just adequate chops in getting the most from her leads who are both appealing and enjoyable to watch. She’s undoubtedly an actor’s director. But her story is the film’s weakest link. She leaves so much untold - especially in the romance of the main characters – we’re often left wondering what is driving their actions in the madness of a war that makes no sense in the first place. We care for them, but we don’t understand them. Too, her narrowed focus prevents us from caring about the notion that the world was partly responsible for the Balkan war atrocities by its reluctance to intervene earlier.
Consideration should be given that not only does Jolie take on one of the most complex armed conflicts in the history of mankind, but also that she marks her directorial debut with a foreign language (Bosnian/Serbian) film. She almost scores big. We can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve.
MPAA Rating:
