I’m determined not to ruin this film by going into plot detail with this review however if you watch the movie you’ll remember the scene with the young Serbian boy in the ‘Giggs’ shirt and the dialogue with the fanatical Liverpool supporting soldier Matthew MacFadyen. Look out to for the garden stomping of Damian Lewis (and the reason behind it). There are a few very funny moments of relief - watch out to for the officers arriving at a Muslim families house and the relevant gifts they bring. Cryptic? enough, enough I hear you cry…
The scenery is beautiful and the set pieces are well directed - bear in mind this isn't a Hollywood movie with Hollywood budgets - but you wouldn't realise. Unfortunately for ation junkies - well there are no set piece battles and not much fighting to be honest - but you do realise you're in the middle of a war picture - and that's the beauty of it. However in the whole 190 odd minutes of the film there are only two instances of fairness, equity and payback and you’ll notice both of these no doubt (because they are so rare).
The main characters are deeply affected by their experiences and are played brilliantly by Gruffudd and Lewis. They are well supported by MacFadyen and some other recognisable British actors as well as some actors from Croatia. The scenery is believable – the story credible and the dialogue very, very real. I was a soldier myself and it passes my acid test of believability. This is undoubtedly Ioan Gruffudds best piece of work and is up there with Damian Lewis’ best also.
I’ve been to Croatia and Serbia myself and although the war was complex and it’s easy for the West to pass unintelligent judgment at times – it’s fair to say that atrocities were committed on both sides.
This film is hard to get although if you’re completely stuck drop me some mail and I’ll see what I can do – my copies Belgian!
