In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

It is a performances centric movie

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a film directed by Angelina Jolie taking place in Bosnia during the war. It's about a Bosnian-Serb soldier named Danijel who is fighting for the Serb army, re-encountering Ajla, a Bosnian who is now captive in a camp he looks over. The once loving couple are now at a cross, as their motives and beliefs have changed since their situations. As a Bosnian, This film is absolutely horrible. It lacks realism in the sense that a Bosnian-Muslim woman would never fall in love with a Serbian soldier who pillaged and destroyed her way of life. The same goes vice-versa for Danijel. A Serb soldier who is full of propaganda and Serbian nationalism would never love a Bosnian-Muslim girl. If anything, he'd just see her as an object. Maybe even less. Ajla is also taken as a prisoner and stuck under supervision of Danijel. This is also a very flawed idea as Bosnian-Muslim women in those camps were stuck in tight spaces and used for rape. They were never protected by anyone especially their captors, Serb soldiers. The film captures a small stint of realism in how it portrayed the brutality of the Serbs. Such as a soldier barging in the apartment and throwing the baby off a balcony just because he could is indeed something the Serbs did to young Bosnian-Muslim children. Another accurate portrayal is when the Serb soldier bends the girl over and rapes her in front of everyone to humiliate her and get a kick out of it. These small acts of brutality is the only thing this film has done regarding historical accuracy, Anything other than that, is just BS hollywood writing. All around, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is not a accurate, nor is it an entertaining film. I understand if the point of this was to appeal to western audiences. However, I'd rather use actual true stories from people who lived the war and use accurate information from them rather than idiotic, inaccurate Hollywood nonsense. Just because a film has a decent budget doesn't mean it's good. If there was anyone who'd ever want to know actual historical and accurate knowledge about the war in Bosnia through film, I'd strongly recommend "No Man's Land" and "Cirkus Columbia." These films are written and directed by people who have lived through the conflict and accurately portray what really happened in the country.

I caught this title at Redbox recently. Wow the male reaction to this film is fascinating. I have always enjoyed how film produces some of the purest emotional reactions from individuals at the most interesting times. In the Land of Blood and Honey seems to be one of these films. as a film it has exposed something that has not or should very shortly be registering in the film arena. The female point of view muted until the recent technological boom , is now coming to sound. I am sorry guys , while I have no apologies , and enjoyed being the beneficiary of such implements , I like the rest of us live in the 21st century. The arguments used for keeping film production a male controlled instrument , are moot in the internet age. Angelina Jolie was probably being cautious in her responses to criticism of her film , but I believe you heard a script.The Statements that the military uniforms were incorrect are fine and pass as well upon scrutiny , the groups were not as well organized as military historical examination proves. The comment that Director Angelina Jolie got into a subject well over her head are crap. folks , lets get to it.Angelina Jolie filmed a movie about war and rape and did it from the female point of view unapologetically. Not being concerned with the Male opinion. What is good for the goose is likewise for the gander. This has gotten it's negative reaction for one reason only. The refusal of the public at large to recognize that A. movies are personal and are often a biased product of their writer , for a direct male comparison to this film see Fahrenheit 911. and B. Hollywood and the production of film are changing to be accessible to the internal whimsy of both sexes. Not hammed over for men if need be. When you stop hemming over the film traditionalist/feminist politics surrounding this film and accept the female point of view this was clearly filmed in , it is a good work.So in brief why 4 of 5 , factoring the above in the correct lens , I find that Writing and Direction pass , I believe Angelina Jolie wrote what she intended to and filmed it marginally well ( the technical errors of uniforms etc.. are correct), the actors acted the script well in fact I thought better that expected. the editing was average , I was actually left feeling a little flat if the objective was to paint a dark canvas around the subject. The flow was well put together no real issues in the sore arse department.It was in this war that rape and the act of rape were finally recognized as an inhumane offense(A War crime), not just criminal behavior. I am in fact certain that rape has occurred in previous wars regularly. but really?? Something this base to the female persona undergoes a direct cultural modification of massive change , and one I'm certain had been politically desired for how long by this group? I'm supposed to get all up in a fuss because a woman put it in the terms of a woman on film.You know if Micheal Moore can do it about Bush. Angelina Jolie can do it about rape.

First of all, I want to mention that I haven't watched the movie nor will I because of personal reasons and also because it just isn't appealing enough to me. I don't know much about what happened during the Bosnian war nor the other Yugoslav wars simply because I wasn't born then yet. I've read stories and heard different interpretations of the misdeeds and atrocities that happened, as well as of the reasons why it all happened. I will conclude only one thing and that is that "it's very complicated" as one of the characters said himself. Therefore I think that Angelina Jolie, someone who comes from a country that has committed many misdeeds and was, in my opinion, very much involved in the atrocities that happened in the Balkans, had no business interpreting these events in her own way and making it into a highly publicized movie. I won't say that her interpretation is completely inaccurate, but she covered only one side of the story, while ignoring the other, deliberately or not. I personally believe that she didn't have bad intentions, she just didn't observe all the aspect and was full of prejudice and bias towards Serbian people, which is consequently creating a wrong picture in the world. It was just too much for her to take on and handle as it is such a controversial topic and it entails a great deal of responsibility. Reading the comments and the reviews of this movie made me realize that the movie had such a bad impact on interpersonal relations between people of different nationalities and religions in the Balkans, where the tension was already running high, that it made the situation significantly worse.To those who want to read about this war as I believe it happened, I recommend reading this: http://www.balkanstudies.org/articles/understanding-balkan-wars To summarize, a war is something you have to live through in order to know enough to make a movie about it and present it to the world. This specific war is particularly difficult and traumatic because of the number of innocent victims and the tragic consequences that are still appreciable. Therefore I think Angelina shouldn't have made this movie (this way) because it just reminds all the people who survived the war of the tragic events, as well as the unresolved issues and repressed feelings that are still very present. In the times when we are trying to break free from the past and make things better, this kind of reminder is not welcome.

After reading most of the reviews.I had to write one myself.The Movie is unique.To my surprise it was pretty GOOD. And i cant wait to see another film by Angelina Jolie - UNBROKEN.By seeing the number of reviews, i say the movie did well as to how many viewers wanted to say something and that they actually watched the movie. Angelina Jolie is on my watch list, there is a view directors that can do these kind of Movie Genre.This movie is part of my collection. The umbrage reviews,that is your opinion. Great and a have to watch Movie.