beatnik-4 Reviews

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996)

must see take on the Bosnian war

[10 May 1999]

A very powerful film. One of the best war/anti-war films I can remember, and there are a lot of them. Worth watching if only for a fantasy scene resembling a music video when over a rock song that translates essentially as "their dancing to rock and roll in jugoslavia and everything is going down the hole."

Mix of starkly realistic war footage and very black comedy. Essential for anyone who wants to understand any of the Balkan wars.

Before the Rain (1994)

masterful plot and execution

[10/10 · 10 May 1999]

This for my money is one of the best films of the last ten years. The plot does a wonderful job of starting and ending in the same place, a device Pulp Fiction stole and did less well. Essential for anyone who wants to understand the conflict between Orthodox and Muslim cultures in the Balkans and anyone who simply enjoys a finely crafted film.