Witnesses

Title: Witnesses
Director: Vinko Bresan
Cast: Leon Lucev, Drazen Kuhn, Kresimir Mikic
Year: 2003
MPAA: Not Rated
Date of Review: April 19, 2007

When thinking of "third world" countries, peoples’ thoughts often jump to the African nations of Ethiopia and Somalia, or - to be more relevant to the times - the Middle Eastern nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. But there are so many places all over the world where life is a dreary and solemn string of events leading to one’s death. Vinko Bresan’s film Witnesses looks at a place that is rarely seen or mentioned when discussions arise about poverty and poor living conditions, and that place is Croatia. The war between the Croatians and Serbians sets the scene for a film about killing – when, if ever, is it justified? And under what circumstances does a war-related death become a murder?

Opening with an overhead shot of a caravan of military vehicles circling a town square at night, this shot continues after all the trucks pass, flowing through a maze of filthy streets like the brown water that covers them. We see three shady looking, heavily armed men driving around in circles, before they pull up to a house and kill the man inside. The rest of the film is told in Rashomon-style, following each major character and how they are affected by this death. Each story begins the morning after, where police are investigating the death and trying to compile a list of suspects. Through all of this, not one ray of sunshine or even a dry street is shown – the film is very effective in communicating the despondent nature of the area.

There’s an incredibly diverse cast of characters in this film, but they all share one common trait – despair. Barbir is the policeman in charge of the case, and is also dealing with his comatose wife. Brothers Josko, Gojo and Baric are responsible for the shooting, but are also distraught by the loss of their father and their missing brother. In some very eye-opening flashback scenes, we see the five men spending time together by patrolling behind enemy lines, seemingly having a great time while they blindly throw grenades into houses and fire their assault rifles at anything that moves. To think that one can feel happiest and most at home on a battlefield is something many of us here in North America cannot even comprehend, but it’s a sad and frightening reality in quite a large portion of the world.

However, while the movie portrays a bleak and unforgiving reality, it is not without a sense of hope. Those who are involved in the violence and destruction of a society and a people can earn redemption, but the operative word there is earn - one cannot simply walk away from their life, but must make an active effort to change. Each character in the film gets an opportunity like this as each story is examined, and it is unsettling to see how reluctant some are to change their ways - though this is probably quite true to life.

If it’s not already abundantly clear, Witnesses is not a happy film. Its visual style and portrayal of the murky, ghetto-like communities of Croatia is nothing short of depressing, and perfectly reflects the story the film is telling. It’s not a film that you will sit down and have a wonderful time watching, but it is very telling of the level of poverty and desperation that has stricken so many places all over the world.

That this film has snuck under the radar and been relatively unseen since its release in 2003 is baffling, seeing as how it is skillfully made and uncompromising in its honesty. It’s especially sad to see that Croatia is still practically unrecognized in the world of film, when there’s obviously some great talent there.

9 / 10