The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Bosnian Cinema

Abstract

The artistic attempt to convey the reality or the author’s vision of the reality can be reduced to the simple communication process between the creator of the strategic artistic idea or message aimed at emotions of the recipient. Manipulation with the impact of the art work results in the stereotyped values on the matter presented in the art work. Such impact is vividly evident in the motion pictures. Ever since the beginning of the film exemplary influences of the film on its audience are enormous. It is the inherent feature of film to be convincing, because if it is not, the audience does not believe the interpreted reality or identify with the story, and thus the communication process is not working properly.

Why are we watching movies? We do understand that the material before our eyes is not reality, but, nevertheless if it does not follow its own principles of reality that creates within, we do not believe it. As communication in the art of film is based on the stories, and stories need heroes and enemies, the different parties in the war reality play roles in the film reality. In this reality the perception of what happened in one period of history is represented and interpreted in the movies. This perception depends on authors believes but also political adequacy at the time, place and origin of the finances for the moviemaking. The features of cinematography (placing the camera for the point of view thus interpreting the reality and transgressing the author idea and or ideology) and storytelling (narrative on Enemies and Saviors), subjugated to the stereotypes along with the propaganda possibilities and impacts of film contents and contexts in reference to the war and after war reality are the main focuses of this essay. The reviewed and referenced Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian films are: No Man’s Land, Turneja, Nafaka, Djeca, Ostavljeni, Grbavica, Gori vatra, Parada, Srpski film, 10 minuta, Notre Musique, Savršeni krug, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Venuto al Mondo, Shot through the Heart, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Hunting Party, Krugovi, and Halimin put.