'Children of Sarajevo' a worthy Oscar tip
Children of Sarajevo, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Snow has entered the foreign language Oscar race as the Bosnian and Herzegovina Filmmakers Association entry. The film, already a hit at Cannes and MIFF this year, is a powerful dram...
Children of Sarajevo, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Snow has entered the foreign language Oscar race as the Bosnian and Herzegovina Filmmakers Association entry. The film, already a hit at Cannes and MIFF this year, is a powerful drama centring on two orphaned siblings and their struggle to survive the aftermath of the Balkan war. Review.
By SANA TELAVOLVIC
Children of Sarajevo (Djeca), premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, delves into the harrowing tale of two orphaned siblings and their struggle to stay united in a society left dishevelled and corrupt by the Balkan war.
Bosnian filmmaker Aida Begic follows on from her successful 2008 Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prix winning debut film, Snow, with another powerful drama set in contemporary Sarajevo.
The story follows Rahima (Marija Pikic), a 23-year old restaurant worker, and her newfound role as a mother to her rebellious younger brother, Nedim (Ismir Gagula).
In the post-war setting, Rahima has developed a deeper sense of faith, becoming a practicing Muslim and wearing the headscarf. After Nedim gets into a school fight with the son of a prominent and corrupt local politician, Rahima is left trying to clean up her brother’s mess and soon finds that his misdemeanours have led him onto a dangerous and violent path.
The unspoken theme of the film is based around the emotional and psychological scarring of war. Flashbacks of wartime Sarajevo, showing sniper attacks on civilians and children in bomb shelters, effectively showcase Sarajevo’s past and help the audience’s understanding of Rahima’s psyche.
Accompanying Rahima’s movements throughout the film are sounds of explosions and gunfire; cleverly tricking the audience into thinking Sarajevo is still in the grip of war. But rather, this is the soundtrack of Rahima’s subconscious, the remnants of a stolen childhood.
Member of the Australian Bosnian-Herzegovina Council Senada Softic believes that the film portrays a side, albeit slightly over-exaggerated, to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Children of Sarajevo helps emphasize that this is a society recovering from near annihilation. While those sounds of gunfire may seem to be for aesthetic effect, they are the key to understanding not only Rahima, but every Sarajevan,” said Ms Softic.
Reem Yehdego, an audience member at the opening screening at Greater Union Theatre, felt both Rahima’s personal and family hardship came to light, in both sight and sound.
“As an audience member, I could still feel the scars that were not healed after the war… The highlight of the film would be the interspersion of the eerie fragments from the past: a woozy home video of children singing and the terrified people fleeing the siege,” said Ms Yehdego.
The memorable quote, “you’ll be better than your sister”, holds significance in Rahima’s fight for her brother. The quote, repeated on a number of occasions to Nedim, was able to emphasize that the line between good and evil is very much blurred, further confusing Nedim’s understanding of right and wrong.
A sore point to an all-round quality film is the developing romance between Rahima and a local shopkeeper, Tarik (Nikola Dzuricko). While the romance helped build Rahima’s newfound role as an independent woman, it did not have great relevance to the overall storyline and lacked sufficient passion to have any memorable impact.
Overall, Children of Sarajevo is a compelling drama that looks at how difficult it is to stay moral when everything around you is corrupt.
The film has been entered for the foreign language Oscar but will learn whether it has made the nominations shortlist on January 15 2013. The 85th Academy Awards ceremony takes place on February 25.
