Change Your Image
jonga-629-722434
Reviews
Dag (2012)
Insight in the Turkish soul
Attracted by the high rating (7.6 at the time being) I watched this film which was probably mostly intended for Turkisch audiences. That was what made interesting for me: it gives some insight in the mentality of nowadays Turkey and it's attitude towards it's army. That attitude is very dualistic: on one side both protagonists are not happily becoming / being soldiers and life as a soldier on a mountaintop is not really glamorized, on the other side there is still the heroic dying ("where one will die a thousand will rise") and the father figure type commanders. On one side it is a modern, America type film on the other side quite dramatic and melancholic, which is maybe very Turkish.
The visuals of the mountain landscape are beautiful, the characters are interesting, there is humor. The downside is that the military action is either quite unrealistic or Turkish soldiers are criminally lousy trained: going into a building in enemy territory WITHOUT taking your gun with you? You are almost out of ammunition and you do NOT take the AK 47 of the enemy you just killed? Take a rest in the snow and not on the nearby rocks where you are not such an easy target? I have never been a soldier but have seen enough war movies to know that these are not clever actions. The two protagonists pay dearly for these mistakes so the director was at least aware of that.
Neprijatelj (2011)
Armospheric and captivating
After reading the positive reviews from both Croatian and Serbian side I had to see this movie. This is not a horror film for the lovers of lots of blood and chopped of heads although there are plenty of corpses at the end. What I found captivating is the atmosphere of malice and distrust that slowly builds up. Also the post-war world of destroyed buildings and believes is well captured. The actors play soldiers as if they fought in a war yesterday (did they?). The change of a group of guys who trust each other and laugh with each other into distrust is beautifully done. This slowly growing mistrust is the real enemy from the title, and this is obviously done by people who know what is about. I highly recommend this film. It is a real shame it did not get wider distribution.