This is a 3 part film depicting events during the complex civil war in what use to be Yugoslavia. The first and third parts are set in the Balkans and for the most part are touching and authentic. A photographer returns to his homeland to witness the fracturing of it into war. This is well depicted in the movie - how communities that use to co-exist peacefully can somehow, through a tortured religious history,group pressure.. . gradually fracture into warring tribes. Another centerpiece of this story is a young girl forced to leave her village to try and save her life.
The second part is mostly disconnected from part 1 and 3. The English woman is pregnant and having marital problems, there is a mafia style shoot-up in a bar. It is entirely irrelevant to the themes presented in 1 and 3. Part 2 should have been edited to coalesce with 1 and 3. The only reason for the second installment is to provide a back-drop for the photographer to return, after a long absence, to his native land and witness the fissures developing. Also in part 2 we see photographs of the execution of the fleeing young woman,but at this stage the photographer was already dead!!
The second part is mostly disconnected from part 1 and 3. The English woman is pregnant and having marital problems, there is a mafia style shoot-up in a bar. It is entirely irrelevant to the themes presented in 1 and 3. Part 2 should have been edited to coalesce with 1 and 3. The only reason for the second installment is to provide a back-drop for the photographer to return, after a long absence, to his native land and witness the fissures developing. Also in part 2 we see photographs of the execution of the fleeing young woman,but at this stage the photographer was already dead!!