Anatema (2006) User Reviews

Not Sure What to Think

[james-gall · 4/10 · 17 November 2012]

I just watched this film on the Internet hoping for some insight on the Balkan conflict. I remember the debate in the U.S. when the talk of NATO intervention began and didn't understand the complexity of the conflict then (despite trying to follow the major news coverage). I still don't. I hoped watching this non-U.S. film would be informative. It is a low budget film. The early section does seem like propaganda. Serbs are portrayed only as villains and never victims - often in very melodramatic scenes. War crimes were committed, but they occurred on all sides with victims of all ethnic groups. This is not addressed. The movie does get better in showing the post-war aftermath. I think this is because the character of Ema is sympathetic and her countrymen are shown in a more realistic way. Some are helpful despite their own suffering; some are openly antagonistic; some are corrupt and opportunistic in the post-war chaos. I think this would be true of any nation in a similar situation. This is not the objective film I wanted, but it did give me some insight into the feelings of one side of the conflict. I don't think it deserves a 10, but neither does it lack any merit as a commentary on the war and it's aftermath.

Headache-Inducingly Putrid Propaganda Film

[rcoates-661-22249 · 1/10 · 28 March 2010]

History and politics aside, Anatema stinks. I saw this at a film festival a couple of years ago and remember it as probably the most grueling movie-going experience of my life. Anatema is one of those self-righteous duds that seeks to dictate to you exactly how you're supposed to feel about everything. If it wants you to feel outraged and saddened (which it usually does), it shows you a row of orphaned girls crying on cue, etc, etc.

Anatema was bad, beyond bad, so relentlessly depressing and tasteless it brought tears to my eyes. I sat miserably, stupefied, twitching and sweating with the effort of stifling my giggles. I didn't know whether to laugh out loud or slash my wrists, and the only reason I didn't run screaming out of the theater is that some person connected with the production was in attendance, and I didn't want to humiliate him.

If you feel passionately about the atrocities depicted in Anatema, you should abhor this film for trivializing the subject, turning it into an unwatchable exercise in cheapjack manipulative propaganda.

Very,very,very bad

[jvc1263 · 1/10 · 24 July 2011]

This movie is a junk! I 've seen this movie few years ago and i find it very funny.This movie is funny,because there is no truth in it,not even a little. I am from Serbia,and i can tell that there war a war crimes in Kosovo,from both sides,but storyline in this movie is stupid,acting is so bad ,that i wanted to cry and even Enver Petrovci is terrible (usualy ,he's a very good actor).This movie is made to flame up the hate of Albanian people in Kosovo toward Serbs,like they don't hate us already! Avoid this movie,not because of politics but because is a very bad,and probably you can find a better way to sped hour and a half,and not to waste it on this crap.

Jesus Christ

[milannovac · 1/10 · 23 January 2019]

Just Jeeeeeesus Christ. I wouldn't even bother indulging this pile of manure enough to write a two-sentence "review" about it, but the thought that some poor sod on the other side of the globe will watch it and take it seriously makes me wanna vomit. It makes me wonder about the nature of the creators of this "film," though. I mean no disrespect to the mentally challenged, disadvantaged folks, but I really have to wonder if the creators of this picture are simply mentally handicapped? Are they of low intelligence? Are they simply evil? But then I remember: To make an effective propaganda piece, one needs to be intelligent, even artistic. This leads me to believe that the creators here are both malicious and unintelligent. Nonetheless, it is shocking to me that a human being in the 21st century can be of such low dignity and self-respect, stoop so low, lie so shamelessly about matters so serious and delicate, never once stopping to think: "What the hell am I doing? This is wrong, so horribly wrong!" If I wasn't so liberal and such a huge admirer of the art of film, I'd wish to see these people in jail. Those who live in the Balkans have likely gone through that childhood moment where their semi-senile grandma or grandpa tell them horror stories about the "others," how they are coming for them with knives, how they lust after our blood etc. Well, imagine a situation where a grandma is telling a completely insane, overblown story of the evil others and how they will come for the child if he or she doesn't eat those vegetables. This film's scrip is how that CHILD would retell the story. Indeed, it is worse than the ravings of a semi-senile grandmother. As you might have guessed, I am a Serb, and I am not particularly bothered by the implications that this kind of portrayal of Serbs can have for my people, cause it can't. It's just that stupid. Above all, this movie is a disservice to Albanians, and if a Serb ever made a piece of propaganda so primitive, lurid, and obscene and called it a film, I'd be ashamed of them.

I feel actual sadness and anger.

[donartz · 1/10 · 16 July 2020]

This is genuinely, and I'm not exaggerating, the worst film I have ever seen. Because of the seriousness of the topic, it can't be a The Room "so bad it's good" type of film. This horrible monstrosity is offensive to me as a film student and as a Kosovo Albanian simultaneously. I simply wish it had never been made.

Anathema in front of the 'blind spectator'

[hardyeva · 10/10 · 24 April 2010]

When mortal humans take the courage to sit face to face with the 'Goddess of War' and to see that which should remain unseen, and to speak for that, that is forbidden, then consciously face the condemnation. Such is Ema Berisha, the journalist from Kosova, the protagonist of the film 'ANATHEMA', The heroine at war and the hateful traitor in freedom. The war of Kosova, projected as a war principally against the civil population, part of which was Ema Berisha, has taken place far away from the eyes of the world, far away from the eyes of the mediums. In front of the 'blind spectator' to whom it was served only the fancy of that, that really happened. The events had been circulated from mouth-to-mouth, from family to families, from village to villages. And somewhere among the mud roads of the postwar Kosova, the dramatic events were hidden or disappeared completely from the collective's memory. In this manner was hidden the destiny of Ema Berisha and thousands of raped women as a sign of revenge. Without their blame, it was hidden the destiny of thousands of destroyed life's. While treating the destiny of the raped woman, this subject with such sensibility, face to one patriarchal mentality, in spite of that, the film 'ANATHEMA' does not claim to change the world or to save the human being, but speaking about that, that is forbidden to be spoken unfolding that, that dare not to be seen pretends to offer an alternative more encouraging and more human.

By J.B.Spins

[christian-stevenson · 9/10 · 21 October 2008]

The horrors committed by the Serbian former Communists and their Bosnian Serb allies were horrendous, and the Free World's feckless response was a scandal, which has yet to be adequately captured on film. The Hunting Party had some intriguing moments, but was undercut by a weak lead performance and displayed more interest in criticizing NATO for a lack of zealousness pursuing war criminals than dramatizing the actual crimes. Though not perfect, writer-director Agim Sopi's Anatema (trailer here), now available on DVD, serves as a valuable corrective, shining a light on Serbian war crimes, in this case committed in Kosovo. Sopi's original intention was to document war crimes occurring in Kosovo with a documentary, but when the Serbian army confiscated his film, he was forced to shift his efforts to a narrative film. After surviving the subsequent brutality of the Serbs, Schwartz broadcasts his report, only to be recalled by his network due to the impending NATO intervention. He and his field producer want to take Berisha with them, but she insists on returning to her home in Pristine. Despite the temporary joy of a reunion with her fiancé, leading to their long postponed wedding, Pristine quickly turns into a nightmare. The Serbian forces occupy the city, deliberating using organized rape as a tool of terror and pacification, before expelling the survivors to Albania. On her return to Kosovo, Berisha is rejected by her husband and spurned by most of her friends. Nobody wants her to keep her baby (which for all she knows could be the product of her wedding night). The Kosovars do not want her to keep the presumed product of Serbian war crimes and issue of Serbian blood. The Serbs do not want such babies to survive as evidence of their crimes. Berisha is determined not to punish Ana, her unborn daughter, for the crimes of others. Indeed, Anatema (Ana + Ema) may well be the most pro-life film ever made. Berisha is forced to temporarily give up Ana for adoption, but when she returns to claim her, the agency is gone. She tracks Ana to a astery appropriated by the old Communists and novae mobsters trafficking in babies, both for profit and disposing of war crimes evidence. Anatema is at heart a mother's story and as such is wholly dependent on its lead actress. Unlike Richard Gere in Hunting Party, Lumnie Sopi is terrific as Ema. Unfortunately, many of the supporting actors are considerably weaker, although Blerim Gjoci is likeably credible as the sympathetic Kosovar Commander Shpati. Director Sopi truly takes the audience to occupied Kosovo, rightly forcing viewers to confront the reality of the war crimes committed there. However, he can be a bit heavy-handed, as when he shows a stampeding crowd trampling a baby's doll. Still, his portrayals of Serbian brutality and the clueless ness of the international policing forces are infuriatingly effective, all of which is ultimately held together by an impressive lead performance.

Comment by Courtney MacNeil

[lorenasopi · 10/10 · 31 May 2008]

Particularly when one thinks of the very real context that grounds this fictional tale, the film Anatema is emotionally taxing. Ema's strength of character amidst such turmoil, however, inspires, and her story offers important insight into the inner realms of war. Sopi, like his protagonist, seeks to make known the realities of his nation's past and present, and to ignite questions that have otherwise been ignored. Through Ema's eyes, we see images through which we have known Kosovo – guns, tanks, fires, corpses – but also images of life amidst the battle that remind us of the complexity of human interactions. For Sopi, the word of war is one of stark polarity, in which the most repulsive and most tender behaviors simultaneously emerge; it is a world in which army generals bathe in rose-petaled water while children starve on the streets, but also one in which friendships are forged with exceptional loyalty, and in which the daily atrocities are sometimes redeemed, or at least lessened, by simple acts of kindness. Insightful and sincere, the film demands our attention, and urges us to take up Ema's quest for truth into our own hands.

An extraordinary movie

[nolanemma-69873 · 10/10 · 22 June 2020]

An extraordinary movie. Undoubtedly, it is the deepest and most complete film about the war in ex-Yugoslavia. The Kosovo war has been a real nightmare that the world has not seen or wanted to see. Anathema is definitely the best movie about the fate of vulnerable and helpless people we encounter anywhere in the world.

low budget film but represents the war very truthfully

[kushaicuni · 8/10 · 29 January 2024]

This movie and other Albanian movies seem to be down voted very badly due to being Albanian or pro Albanian movies. It is low budget and it lacks the top actors but it actually depicts the horrible sufferings of Albanian people. The first part shows very well the face of the serbian army and their horrible genocide. It is easily fact checked by just a simple internet search and you can basically see the true pictures this movie is based on. There have been mass killing, war crimes, rapping, genocide, forcefully evictions, house destroying and everything else that is shown has truth in it. I feel bad that people had to suffer through it and how there's still missing people from the war until nowdays. Also shows how much raped women suffered and were mistreated by friends, family or other Albanians for their misfortune. It also gives hope and shows how hopefull Albanians were for a better life. It is a horrible story. This story maybe needs better representation but this movie is a good start for foreigners and even interested Albanians to watch.

An Impressive Film

[robertrulfo · 10/10 · 22 June 2020]

An impressive film that captivates you from the beginning to the end. The baroque structure and sophisticated cinematic language make this film very special. Probably the most important war movie I've ever seen. Showing the unwanted story of the fate of a journalist who tries to extract horrified truths from the shame of war, the film 'Anathema' creates deep semantic dimensions that make you think long and hard about the world that others hide before your eyes.

Unique drama

[navondona · 10/10 · 22 June 2020]

Anathema is the most shocking film that tells the story of a raped journalist during the war in Kosovo. Survival during the campaign of Serbian crimes during the war in Kosovo and the tendency to silence its voice in the period of freedom from people who consider themselves creators of democracy, is the extraordinary unique drama that this wonderful film offers us.

Give this movie a chance

[estebanmatavargasl · 8/10 · 10 January 2022]

Despite the fact Anatema is obviously a non-professional and mostly amateur production, if you are able to bear the terrible acting of the first 15 minutes, you´ll find out this film tells a painful story that depicts pretty well the horrors of the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and the misguided actions of NATO and the UN. To anyone interested on how mean human beings could be to each other, if we are given the chance, watching this movie would be a must; because this is the kind of cinema that reminds us Walter Benjamin´s quote: "There is no document of culture that is not at the same time a document of barbarism".