No Man's Land (Tanovic, 2001)

The cinematography in No Man's Land (Danis Tanovic, 2001) is rather interesting. It follows many of the conventions of the genre, but transgresses others. When an artillery shell is fired at Ciki and Cera, the camera shakes as the shell explodes, and throws their bodies flying. This is quite common in war films; it makes the explosion seem more real, and gets the viewer further immersed into the story. There are also POV shots, which I believe also fall well into the generic conventions, again creating a sense of realism.

There are instances though, in which No Man's Land's cinematography strays from what I would expect form a war film. The film includes extreme long shots that display the beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina (although it was actually shot in Slovenia). These and many other shots emphasize the lush green grass, and the stunningly blue sky. I would expect a film like this to aim for a color palette that would match the mood of war more closely.

Rather than detracting from the film, the transgression from generic norms serves its purpose well. Showing the area in its actual beauty, rather than justifying the war with muted colors, shows the absurdity of war. It is almost as if it begs the question "why fight in such a glorious place". It also shows an international audience that would not necessarily know, that it is a beautiful place.

In terms of the POV shots, they are mostly from Ciki's point of view. We seem to see the world through the Bosnian eye. While the film generally shows that neither side is right in this war, I get the feeling that the audience is meant to lean toward the Bosnian side. We are first introduced to the Bosnians, who are then attacked by the clearly more powerful Serbs. We do not just stay in the trench though. The camera goes to UNPROFOR headquarters and to the TV station. Our vision is not limited to Ciki's, but even though he seems the least willing to cooperate, and is the most violent, we tend to identify with him.