Direction: Predrag Antonijevic
Country: Serbia
Horrifying atrocities of war seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old Serbian girl (Biljana Cekic) placed in the Jasenovac concentration camp of Croatia in the WWII. This is what Predrag Antonijevic proposes in his somewhat inarticulate new drama. The film, based on the testimonies of survivors, wants to be so realistic in its depictions that falls into artlessness, often failing to extract natural emotions from the scenes.
Thus, episodes of profound compassion and self-sacrifice in favor of others alternate with brutal violence and authoritarian repression, leaving a huge gap in between. Angels and demons are taken to extremes, while the anticipation of cruelty, in most of the cases, makes the film’s own worst enemy.
The weight of history can be felt and the unacceptable treatment inflicted to the Serbs and Jews severely condemned, but the film could have been more plot-oriented and less heavy-handed. Screenwriter Natasa Drakulic, who shares a good slice of responsibility in this misfire, forges an unsatisfying conclusion that leaves everything in suspension. What should be agonizingly poignant becomes merely superficial.
