Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Mastur Batsler Nobody really cares that a low life gets killed, he isn't even shown in the movie, we are not supposed to care about him. Although we don't care about the witness as well, not supposed to by the director. And we continue with the same blunt tone set in the very beginning of the movie. The coldness towards the witness is surprising and unrealistic, no emotions shown throughout the movie. Let's talk about the retrospective jumps. The story is one short happening over a couple of days timeline viewed from a few people's perspectives, which are overlapping as people are usually at the same place at the same time . Movie is kind of slow paced so this raises the movie dynamic greatly, unfortunately it gets a little bit confusing towards the end, and scenes are repeated too many times that it gets irritating. Except the main story line we get to see some pretty cool but unfortunately short retrospective, they don't add much to the story just to introduce characters and show us how they got here, (victim's and witness's unfortunately aren't shown).The message? I don't think there is one, every character is a horrible human being except one that is just passive. You wait for something and get very empty ending. Like some politically correct story that still intended (by showing a few Croatian soldiers, while defending against Serbian invasion, as not so diabolic but cold and heartless people), and managed, to get people angry.To be absolutely fair the reason to watch this movie is to see debut of a promising star Melody, her "out of this world" stunning performance alone is worth the watch. She was a baby then, but she is a babe now.

filmalamosa The story has potential... the suspense is there however the film had a lot of rough edges and there was too much drama.The story is set in Croatia during the factional wars that broke out in the 1990s--Serbs versus Croats in this case. A murder is carried out and the only witness is a young girl--what will happen to her?The film abruptly jumps back in time several times replaying everything but adding more details each time at first I thought it was a defective DVD... Have never seen that done before.Instead of intellectual gimmicks like this the film maker should have concentrated on toning down the silly dramatic scenes ... they don't wash.It comes off as a grade B movie with intellectual pretensions.Hard to rate something like this except comparing it to other films from the region.. Klopka (Serbian) was much better. so this film gets 5 stars..although it will engage you it just needs more refinement.

tedg This has the most powerful last two seconds I can ever remember. Few filmmakers know how to start a film; this is not often noted because there are so many prefab devices. But far fewer know how to finish. This is truly, truly powerful and if you can see it I urge you to.The shape of this has two characteristics, both handled well.The most obvious is the fugue structure. We see certain scenes over and over again, each time with new information. At the same time, new information is provided by new scenes. There are no radical narrative shifts of the kind normally called "twists." But the thing does move about as far as it is possible. Motives are revealed to be different than assumed. Characters emerge from darknesses that you see them create. Time has a different meaning than usual: all the movement stays in one place. It is a narrative structure that must be very difficult to judge from the few successes. By itself, that accretive stationary motion of narrative would be fulfilling. But here it is turned to a specific purpose. The camera flows in ways not normal: more fluid. When this happens, we want to associate it with a relationship. With dePalma for instance, that relationship is directly with the viewer. With Kar Wai Wong it is with the atmosphere. Kurosawa with the canvas. Here, we are anchored by what parents see and children reflect. As I am not personally involved in the centuries-old Serb-Croat animosity, it may be easier for me to see the different colors of siblings here, and how they are placed to make this perspective have power.You may want to watch this a couple times to pay attention to an interesting technique. We see several scenes over and over. Only a few times do we see the same exact shot. Usually, the setup is subtly different. Many times, the eye flows from not only a different direction but with a different curiosity. Sometimes the lighting varies as well — particularly in the all- important bar festooned with American movie posters.Really. The last image in its context will change you forever. This film matters.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

valis1949 WITNESESSES emphasizes and illustrates the profound dread and horror of War from a fresh and different perspective. This film is not about armed military combat, but examines how actions and feelings engendered on the front lines reverberate through society. The Bosnian Conflict of the 1990's is employed as a metaphor to demonstrate how partisan violence and ethnic hatred manifested on the battlefield exact a toll on the civilian community. The film opens with a long scene in which three soldiers move into position to set up an explosive device at a civilian home in a dark and empty city. Without warning, the owner opens the front door, looks out, and is shot down in cold blood. Later, as dawn breaks, we witness the beginnings of a crime scene investigation. From here, the film loops back to a much earlier part in the narrative, and the film continues to move forwards and backwards in time until all of the motivations, reasons, and ramifications of this killing are revealed. It might seem that this unique approach to storytelling would be confusing, yet the narrative is quite easily understood. Vinko Bresan, the director, attempts to reveal that 'War' might be more accurately seen as the sum total of a myriad of individual 'murders', and although sanctioned by the state, each killing demands that a moral and ethical price must be paid. WITNESSES uses the prism of a criminal investigation to show how revenge and retribution might be the most damaging side effect of War.