No Man's Land

2001 Directed by Danis Tanović

A lot can happen between the lines

Two soldiers from opposite sites get stuck between the front lines in the same trench. The UN is asked to free them and both sides agree on a ceasefire, but will they stick to it?

Branko Đurić Rene Bitorajac Filip Šovagović Georges Siatidis Sacha Kremer Alain Eloy Katrin Cartlidge Serge-Henri Valcke Simon Callow Tanja Ribič Branko Završan Bogdan Diklić Mustafa Nadarević

Alternative Titles

Terra de Ninguém, 无人之地, 无人地带, 三不管地帶, Ničija zemlja, Нічийна земля, 노 맨스 랜드, 無主之地

history action drama

98 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Cam ★★★★ 4

Cinematic Time Capsule
2001 Marathon - Film #64
”If you die, I die too”
“What a comfort”
Three Men and a Trench
I went into this satirical war film from Bosnia with a bit of a grudge, because it beat out my beloved Amélie for that year’s Foreign Film Oscar.
I also have to admit that 20 minutes in I was so cocky, I thought I had this movie completely figured out and pegged. I was then humbled and blown away by how wrong I was. The last act is jaw-dropping and absolutely nothing like what I was expecting.
So once again I’ve learned how little I know, and that in war no one wins, but at the Oscars every nominee is a winner.
”There, we are equal now”

Cinematic Time Capsule - 2001 Ranked
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★

Disturbing, gut-wrenching tale showcasing the futility and outright insanity of war! Between the unending red tape of bureaucracy, the UN's impotency, politics as usual and the media's rating frenzy, peace becomes a casualty of war!
Thankfully it's not a true story for the ending is so tragically haunting I don't know how I could have dealt with it if it had happened for real! It's too unbearable to imagine!
Review by Rafael Jovine ★★★★ 2

Two man, a bosnian and a serbian, gets trapped in the trenches alone in the midst of the Bosnian war. To make things worse, a friend of one of them rests over a mine that with a single move could explode.
Right away, I love the concept of the story and the way the director and writer used the strong differences and hatred between these two men to build on tension. You were always on the edge, wondering what would happen to them and the friend at all time. On the other hand I found very interesting the very satirical (think a least farse version of Death of Stalin) tone that came from the UN and newscaster. Building pretty much a complete criticism to everyone involved on the war, inside or the outsiders.
All in all, while it may not be the greatest war satire, it certainly has enough charm and thrills to make this a good recomendation.
Review by Sabina ★★★★

Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral.
Another Bosnian film I watched as a kid and didn’t grasp the scope of. But what a treat to watch again. This is also probably the most underrated Oscar winner.
No Man’s Land tells the story of three soldiers from opposing sides trapped together in a trench, one of which wakes up on top of a mine and becomes a living booby trap. The film is a dark satire that tackles the bleakness of war with an astute sense of humour. This is balanced cleverly with a somber tone that never lets you forget what war does…
Review by Viktor Prentovski ★★★½

Movie #2 of March Challenge (Bosnia)
No Man's Land is a Bosnian anti-war film. It has a very interesting premise: two men from opposing sides caught in a trench, in no man's land, trying to get out alive. The performances are good, and the camera work is great. However, all that stuff with the media and unnecessary drama lessen the experience. Still a good movie, but it could have been a great one.
Review by Ali Zakeri ★★★½

+ Empty your pockets.
- Why?
+ Because I have a gun and you don't.

History of human civilization in three lines.
Review by AZOOZ ALONSO ★★★★

“Empty your pockets.Why?Because I have a and you don't.”
افضل طريقة اوصف فيها no man’s land الحصار ، كونهم محاصرين في وسط اللامكان بحيث يعرف الكل مكانهم وما يقدرو يسوو اي شي ، وفوق ذا الصحافة منتظرين يغطو الحدث ، هذه كوميديا في اظلم صورها توريك تفاهة الحرب مع الجميع وتعثرت بسبب سلسلة القيادة . لا الرعاية البوسنية ولا الصربية ، حتى الامم المتحدة ما قدرو يسوو شي وقادتهم ما يسمحون لهم بالمحاولة واخيرًا هناك جيش من الصحفيين اللي قد يهتمون او لا يهتمون ، ولكن كعادة الصحافة منتجيهم مهتمين بمصلحتهم عن " المصلحة الانسانية ".
تخيل معي أن تكون في حرب ويكون احد افراد العدو معك في نفس الخندق وتضطروا ان تجلسوا داخل الخندق، فيلم جميل ويحمل رسالة رائعة…
Review by shahbakht ★★★★

Stands among the pantheons of great anti-war movies. It deservedly beat Amelie for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. What a movie. Humane, with a strong message and sporadically very funny. It is a must see.
Review by anja! ★★★★ 1

watching this made me realise that i've never actually seen a bad balkan film and that i'm always invested in them, which is weird because i consume so much media and i watch so many films you'd think i was drained by now. but no, our talented directors and actors keep proving me wrong and im so thankful for that. growing up in bosnia i've always heard a lot about the war and got a second hand experience from all the stories and scars it left on my family and friends. danis tanovic and branko djuric have also been big inspirations and they're people that young aspiring balkan actors or filmmakers can really look up to. this was unexpectedly beautiful but raw, agonising but funny and i loved every minute of it. the war wounds aren't fully healed, people keep picking at them and it hurts, so why not make art out of it?
Review by Kevin ★★½ 6

I read somewhere that No Man's Land, winner of the 2002 Best Foreign Language Film will make me look at conflict in a whole new light. That the film is of such rare quality, yada yada yada.
I have absolutely no idea where such thoughts come from, maybe plucked out of thin air I dunno. What I know if that this is no masterpiece. It's average and at times it borders on stupidity, or was that comedy.
Not the best anti war film I have ever seen by a long, long stretch of the imagination and I'm seriously puzzled by all the fuss and the hype. Especially, as I can list 10 superior anti war films off the top of my head.
The Oscar should have gone to Amélie, it's blatantly a much better film, in every aspect. There's clearly politics at work.
Review by Lezgo ★★★★½

Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral.
Review by Andy King ★★★★

90er Jahre – Bosnienkrieg.
Bei einer Postenablösung gerät ein Trupp von Bosniaken versehentlich in die Schusslinie von serbischen Stellungen. Nur einer überlebt verwundet den überraschenden Angriff und kann sich in einen verlassenen Schützengraben retten.
Die Gegenseite schickt zwei Soldaten zur Aufklärung und die werden, nachdem sie eine Sprengfalle mit einer bosnischen Leiche gebaut haben, vom überlebenden Bosniaken angegriffen. Ein Serbe stirbt und im Gerangel erwacht plötzlich die Leiche, die auf einer Sprenggranate platziert wurde – wenn sie wieder aufsteht sterben alle drei!
Notgedrungen müssen alle erstmal zusammen einen Weg finden, um die Granate zu entschärfen…
Wer kann da helfen – die Blauhelme?
Groteskes, kleines Kriegsdrama was auch als Satire gedacht ist.
Super gefilmt. Super gespielt. Durchweg unterhaltend und authentisch.
Die…

Recent reviews

Review by tottituominen ★★★★

Great premise and execution. I’m a sucker for these small, minimalistic yet somehow broad stories. The Bosnian war is the first war that I remember. It was constantly on the news and on the radio when I was a child. I now know the details of that conflict better than I did then and I think that this film captures the insanity of that conflict and the insanity of war in general very well. One of the films in a long time that I did not know what was going to happen next. For a relatively small scale and budget this film accomplishes a lot. Shame to see that the media has become even more questionable and the UN even more powerless.
Review by Norman Schultheiß ★★★★

Zuerst schaute sich dieser Film wie einer aus den späten Siebzigern oder frühen Achtzigern, ich hatte zunehmend das Gefühl die Inspiration des Regisseurs liegt lang zurück (einer der alten Schule).
Mit jeder weiteren Minute fiel das aber so gut wie gar nicht mehr auf, ich war von dieser so absurden Story
vollkommen gefesselt.
Danis Tanovic schafft hier einen schon fast Satirischen Einblick in das Gesehen des Jugoslawienkrieges.
Ein Film der auf Metaebene so viel Kritik ausübt das man mit Abschluss der letzten Szene nur fassungslos vor dem Fernseher sitzt.
Bei mir hat dieses Werk noch Tage nachgewirkt und wurde in meinem Empfinden immer stärker und stärker.
Dies ist kein klassisches Kriegsdrama, eher eine Tragödie die mit jeder Instanz, die in einem so fürchterlichen Szenario agiert, abrechnet.
Tolles Europäisches Kino!
Kein Film für jedermann, trotzdem eine klare Empfehlung.
Review by Jackson Gondo ★★★★

Great film. Great social commentary. What began as a film about war just slowly evolved into something much larger and it became more about the manner in which we understand war, and the various degrees of which it is constructed. We only know what we know.
Review by Joel ★★★

Harvemmin näkee elokuvia serbi-bosni sodasta. Elokuva valoittaa tilannetta hyvin ja kertoo kirjaimellisesti tilannetta puolivälistä. Hyvää metaforista kuvankäyttöä sotilaiden välillä. Muutenkin elokuva kuvastaa hyvin UNn tehottomuutta, pressin haaskamaisuutta lähes kansanmurhan edessä.
Review by Sabina ★★★★

Neutrality does not exist in the face of murder. Doing nothing to stop it is, in fact, choosing. It is not being neutral.
Another Bosnian film I watched as a kid and didn’t grasp the scope of. But what a treat to watch again. This is also probably the most underrated Oscar winner.
No Man’s Land tells the story of three soldiers from opposing sides trapped together in a trench, one of which wakes up on top of a mine and becomes a living booby trap. The film is a dark satire that tackles the bleakness of war with an astute sense of humour. This is balanced cleverly with a somber tone that never lets you forget what war does…
Review by local_man ★★★

the dude from hurt locker coulda figured this out
Review by Vdub ★★★½

So basically what this movie told us is that while Serbs and Bosnian Muslims was killing each other United Nation stand by and watched and did nothing..
Review by liz ★★★★

the ending of this made me mad
Review by Constantinos Potsolidis ★★★★

Das ist die schlechteste deutsche Übersetzung die es gibt.
UN: Ob die uns verstehen?
UN: French?
UN: Do you speak English?
Soldat: A littl.
Soldaten: Zum Glück können wir uns auf Englisch verständigen.
Review by Toby ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Example #9274912836 why war is the stupidest thing ever.
This film is shot so amazingly, and the originality of the concept combined with the global nature of the cast, languages, and settings is incredibly intriguing. It's definitely a slow one, but the entire message is one that resonates. The man on the mine is representative of the entire conflict (and most conflict in general) in that a single misstep in diffusing the core issue could lead to massive harm or death upon an order of magnitude more people. It shows how limited the UN is, how bureaucratic our world governments are, and how petty war can be when you really boil it down.
TL;DR: Why didn't he just shit on the mine to diffuse it.
Review by Kaynê Valente

A clássica história de duas pessoas de crenças diferentes sendo forçadas a trabalharem juntas e posteriormente se entenderem é botada a cheque em No Man's Land, onde a narrativa é subvertida e ganha proporções que comentam uma gama de temas afiados sobre uma guerra sangrenta e pouco conhecida, embora bastante cruel e que até hoje carrega suas marcas nos povos que a vivenciaram.
Dois soldados de locais opostos ficam presos entre as linhas de frente na mesma trincheira. A guerra entre a Sérvia, Croácia e a Bósnia nunca foi tão comentada quanto deveria, e a fortíssima identidade cultural desses povos provoca rinchas até hoje, e esse filme demonstra isso perfeitamente, mostrando a guerra em seu auge. E nesse auge, os…
Review by Carlos ★★★½

Una película que a la guerra la tiene solo como excusa y no como medio. Refleja muy bien los intereses, peleas internas, hipocresía de las altas esferas... Y los deseos de sobrevivir por encima de todo. Moral y literalmente. Con un humor bastante ligero. Está bien.