This is a period of history I am interested in, and therefore Sarajevo was a film I was interesting in watching because of the subject matter. It is a film that is certainly elegantly presented, with well judged performances as well. Yet its conclusions that the assasination of the Arch duke Ferdinand, and his wife was part of a Austrian plot to go to war with Serbia is tendentious at best. It is certainly a nice twist, and one that gives the film momentum. The problem is that a simpler story is the far more likely one. It was probably bad luck and incompetent policing that helped lead to the death of Ferdinand and there by the first world war. It's true that Austra/ Germany wanted an excuse to go to war with Serbia, but whether Austria would have connived in the death of their own leader Ferdinand is extremly unlikely.
The above reservations are the reason I don't rate the film more highly than a six. It is a good solid film however, although the central love story was probably unnecessary. Florian Teichtmeister does a good job a Leo Peffer investigating an investigation whose outcome is fixed from the outset. Melika Foroutain playing Maria Jeftanovic is the Serbian he falls in love with, and whose presence in Sarajevo is increasingly threatened by the establishment, looking for revenge. There are interesting elements in the story that Leo peffer is a Jew, and that will prove useful to the Austrians in trying to accuse the Serbian government of being behind the assasination. If Leo Peffer can sign off on the investigation whilst being seen as a 'neutral' it will look better for a wider international community.
He doesn't play ball with that, and that leads to him being directly threatened and intimidated. The story relies on the tension on whether he will give in or not to this pressure. There are other interesting characters like Heino Ferch who appears as friendly doctor but may or may not be. His performance was the most interesting in the film, and he tries to give Leo realistic advice. This advice might be double edged however.
So there are interesting elements in this film, and it has the pervasive atmosphere of a down at heels Austro Hungarian empire, riven by warmongers, and careerists. Gustav Princip and the other serbs involved in the murder of the arch duke are shown to be tortured, and threatened with execution to make them talk. Innocent Serbs are also executed, although how much truth there is in this I don't really know.
The production values are excellent, and the expositionary elements of the film are handled pretty well. I liked the film, but its speculation undermines its authenticity. If you want your period drama tinged with violence at an important time, then this is worth a watch. If however your looking for a truly factual account of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the assasination, then handle this film with some care. It's a decent effort, and will wile away an evening reasonably enough. Yet it doesn't quite fulfill its promise.
The above reservations are the reason I don't rate the film more highly than a six. It is a good solid film however, although the central love story was probably unnecessary. Florian Teichtmeister does a good job a Leo Peffer investigating an investigation whose outcome is fixed from the outset. Melika Foroutain playing Maria Jeftanovic is the Serbian he falls in love with, and whose presence in Sarajevo is increasingly threatened by the establishment, looking for revenge. There are interesting elements in the story that Leo peffer is a Jew, and that will prove useful to the Austrians in trying to accuse the Serbian government of being behind the assasination. If Leo Peffer can sign off on the investigation whilst being seen as a 'neutral' it will look better for a wider international community.
He doesn't play ball with that, and that leads to him being directly threatened and intimidated. The story relies on the tension on whether he will give in or not to this pressure. There are other interesting characters like Heino Ferch who appears as friendly doctor but may or may not be. His performance was the most interesting in the film, and he tries to give Leo realistic advice. This advice might be double edged however.
So there are interesting elements in this film, and it has the pervasive atmosphere of a down at heels Austro Hungarian empire, riven by warmongers, and careerists. Gustav Princip and the other serbs involved in the murder of the arch duke are shown to be tortured, and threatened with execution to make them talk. Innocent Serbs are also executed, although how much truth there is in this I don't really know.
The production values are excellent, and the expositionary elements of the film are handled pretty well. I liked the film, but its speculation undermines its authenticity. If you want your period drama tinged with violence at an important time, then this is worth a watch. If however your looking for a truly factual account of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the assasination, then handle this film with some care. It's a decent effort, and will wile away an evening reasonably enough. Yet it doesn't quite fulfill its promise.