User Reviews

Dino Mustafic has doubtlessly made a big effort to adapt the screenwriter Zlatko Topcic's autobiographical novel. Remake is a big production, obviously straight from the heart of the director. However, giving all the credit to his heart, I am unsure if he deliberately left out some goodness in the film. All of the "good friends" of the protagonist Tariq turn their back at him, eventually betraying him. Strangely, it makes one feel that either the original literature piece or the script, or knowing that the writer is the same person, both are somewhat sided, written in bitter agony (naturally) and (perhaps) cinematic revenge. I think this big movie would have received more international acclaim it deserved if it had left out some of its strong nationalistic approach.

I can't agree with other reviewers calling Remake a masterpiece. It is among the better films made in Bosnia after the war '92-'95 but the competition is rather weak. It can't compete with Bosnian films before that war, just to name one real masterpiece "The Battle on Neretva" by Veljko Bulajic. I can't deny that Dino Mustafic had a genuine intention to show what was happening during the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina. The script was strong and gave him a lot of opportunities. Direction however was mediocre. You can see clearly that his theatrical experience was more a burden than an asset for this film. Than can be seen especially in "second war" part at the beginning which is the weakest part of the film. Flat and artificial, with completely unnecessary love triangle. I had a feeling that I was watching a stage play rather than real life. Locations seemed cartoonish, actors overreacted a lot (or it is just bad acting) Lucija Serbedzija's (Eva) performance was pretty weak, the same goes to Ermin Sijamija (Ahmed Karaga). The only exception is Admir Glamocak. Acting in the '92-'95 war part was much better with some stronger performances (like Dejan Acimovic and Emir Hadzihafizbegovic as chetniks). The best scene in my opinion is the one with prisoner singing. Emotional, well acted and directed. Mustafic could have done much better job in the rest of the film with clearer presentation of historical background and locations since for the audience outside Balkans it could be pretty confusing who is who, where, why etc. So confusing that it confused some critics like Deborah Young from Variety who wrote that Tarik's father "...got arrested and tortured in 1941 by Tito's communist zealots" while in reality he was arrested by Tito's enemies ustashas. There are also some plot holes or at least too big coincidences; SPOILER-Tarik Karaga finds his enemy, Miso, by accident, seeing his portrait on a street artist's drawings. Among millions of other people in Paris? Really? Similarly, SPOILER-when Tarik at the end throws a bomb into the bunker, what would be the possibility that his friend Miro is in it? 1:50 000? OK it is not my intention to split hairs here just to show it is not everything just perfect with this film as other reviewers claim. Two more things that I would like to point out: first, atrocities and massacres done in Bosnia during the last war were much worse than what was shown in the film; and secondly, although most of the film is taking place in Sarajevo, the 3 year long siege of the city is not even mentioned. To conclude, yes, Mustafic's film is still among the 2 best films (the other one would be Ademir Kenovic's "The perfect Circle") made in Bosnia about the last war. Masterpiece it is not, not even close. Music (by Adi Lukovac) and cinematography (by Mustafa Mustafic) are both excellent. My vote is 6.

Simply outstanding. It's an incredibly moving film that can inspire you, horrify you, bring you to tears and also make you ashamed that you didn't do anything about it. The scene with "Singer" in the camp was one of the most emotional scenes I've ever watched. 10/10