As If I Am Not There (2010)

Simply A Masterpiece

Powerful

An Exercise In Nonsense

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

A theme that is often found throughout camp literature is the continuous impact that a camp experience has on those who have been interned against their will. It is as if the individual does not leave once released - though physically free, their mind remains to some extent trapped by their captors. "As If I Am Not There" displays this truth in heartbreaking fashion, as the audience witnesses the drastic difference between Samira at the beginning of the film, in which she happily runs through the streets of Sarajevo, and the end, in which it is almost impossible to imagine her smile. Natasa Petrovic magnificently pulls the audience in with her expressions during the close-up shots of her face, and we are unable to escape the emotions that she experiences. Scenes in which she feels pain and terror during her internment are very difficult to watch, and the haunted appearance she has at the end is not an image that readily leaves one's mind. As a film which depicts women's wartime experiences, "As If I Am Not There" is a drastically different war story from the gun fights and front line scenes we are all used to. It takes place on a very small scale, in which the world for these women becomes cut down to the size of a factory and adjacent house. These women knew nothing about the state of their families or country during this time, as indicated by their inclinations to jump at rumors of a nearby men's camp, and they rely completely on their captors for food and shelter. Though difficult to witness, "As If I Am Not There" is an important film. It brings the broad topic of camp experiences to the level of an individual human being, and the ending leaves the audience with the unsettling feeling that Samira's pain is never going to end. It is a piece of art which warns us against destruction, and reminds us that the true costs of war are not paid for by governments, but by the individuals who have had their lives ripped apart by events outside their control.

To start off, this film was one of the most gruesome and intense films I ever laid eyes on. Through illustrating scenes of women being raped, women being abused and women treated inhumanely, the director definitely wants her audience to sympathize and empathize with the women that were affected physically and mentally. Even though some of the women survived the camp, there experiences at the camp is something that will never go away and thus there lives will never be the same as well. The way women were traumatized is unheard of through history to be honest. Additionally, this film was extremely accurate in terms of how women were treated and how they proceeded once they were released from being held captive at the camp. Also, the director wants her audience to realize that monsters come in all forms, which is illustrated through the juxtaposition between the way the soldiers treated her vs the way the captain treated. Even though it seemed like the captain treated her better, towards the end of the film the captain chokes her, which illustrates that he is just like the other soldiers that raped her. This movie did a great job of illustrating the ethnic internment of Bosniaks during the Bosnian War.

"As If I'm Not There" realistically portrays the female-in-combat/camp narrative and the themes that come with it, including enduring the camp experience past its physical confines and a realistic victim who makes questionable choices. Juanita Wilson makes a smart choice to not end the movie when the camp is liberated, instead tracing just the beginning of Samira's hard journey of enduring and "recovering". The journey from camp to liberation in some ways replicates the camp life as it still makes people feel powerless and somewhat like animals. When Samira and the other women have to cross the river and hill to transfer to another set of busses, there is the real possibility that the women could've been shot and killed since they were still at the power of the army men with the guns. When Samira learns that she is pregnant and cannot abort the baby, the infant becomes a physical reminder of the sexual violence she experienced, and we see her struggle to decide whether or not she wants to deal with the pain of the memories of the camp or the pain of the camp plus giving up a baby. Not only that, but the idea of a "perfect victim" is squashed as we realize there may not be just good or just bad people in the world. Samira starts out as the innocent school teacher who moves from the big city to a small village who is then captured by the Serbian army and taken to a rape camp, but we see her egoism when she takes back her sexuality to attract the Captain, one of her captors. The captain himself is portrayed as not necessarily all bad, as he's still a man with a family, even if he may also be a monster. Overall, the main pull of this movie is that the audience gets to experience the realness of how a camp can function as a form of social engineering. While there is little dialogue, we feel every emotion Samira feels through her body language and facial expressions as she is thrown into the worst of situations and must endure, not necessarily overcome. Especially for people who know little about the Balkans in the 1990s or about camps in general, this is a great introduction to the harsh realities people faced and continue to face today. Especially since the lives of women during and post-war are rarely mentioned, this is a powerful piece that deserves more recognition for what it successfully portrays.

I kinda knew what to expect. The war in Bosnia was brutal. They didn't care about Geneva Conventions( I don't think they even heard about them) Rape was the instrument of the war by all sides. Thousands of Bosnian women were raped. There are many war movies but I think this movie is unique because it shows rape victims of war. Natasha Petrovic is incredible in this movie. Her eyes revealed everything every feeling. Hope to see her in different movie soon. And having read the book from Slavenka Drakulic I have to say that Juanita did great job. She didn't put blame on any side. You don't see army insignias and don't hears speeches about who started the war. You just see how innocent suffer in the war. This movie is very hard to watch and there are parts were you might even close your eyes. But it also shows strength of human being in midst of madness As a women I had to think what would I do in Samira's place. And probably the answer will be everything necessary in order to survive