SARAJEVO — A man who finds himself unexpectedly stuck with a little baby is funny, but in the context of the war in the Balkans things become much more tragic.
Bosnian director Nedzad Begovic struggles to find an original tone for "Jasmina" half-way between comedy and drama, yet the story ends up more sentimental and schematic than droll. In the few moments when "Jasmina" strikes the right chord, it becomes tearfully touching, but overall it’s much too soft to survive without festival protection.
Begovic is known for his cheerful doc "Totally Personal," where he used his own family members to record life in Bosnia from Communism to the war and beyond. In this first fiction feature, he focuses on a story so simple and improbable it reads like a fable. What is lacking here is some fairy-tale charm.
As the siege of Sarajevo escalates in 1993, two young parents send their infant daughter to the seacoast in the care of her grandmother Safa (Nada Durevska.) They begin a precarious existence living in an abandoned house next to alcoholic bum and misogynist Stipe (Zijah Sokolovic), who is irrationally hostile to the refugees next door.
But when granny ends up in the hospital, the addled old boozer reluctantly takes little Jasmina in. His clumsy and surreal attempts to get rid of the adorable tike, like putting her in a garbage dumpster, are played as gags, signaling that he will inevitably accept the responsibility of feeding baby and changing diapers. In the process, his own life will be changed.
Sokolovic, a veteran character actor, shows off a professional repertoire of moods and expressions from gruff to wide-eyed. Only in the film’s closing scenes does he finally connect with the character on a deeper psychological level, creating a sense of real loss and heartbreak.
Shot on HD cam, the film uses mainly fixed framing which underscores the story’s fairy tale/television quality. The cloying musical comment is used with a heavy hand.ally become, although a theatrical outing in Bosnia will no doubt be warmly welcomed.
"Na putu" tells the story of young Bosnian-Muslim couple, Luna and Amar, living in post-war Sarajevo, and planning on having a baby. Their idyll is marred: the young man is traumatised from his experiences in the war, and from losing his soldier brother. He turns to alcohol, loses his job, but finds another one through a friend. As it turns out he is being recruited by radical (Wahhabite) muslims, and he finally decides to compensate his alcohol problem by becoming a radical -- or, in his view, true -- Muslim. This is unacceptable to Luna, who sees herself as a modern, moderate Muslim, and has no intention of trading her wardrobe in to become a "ninja" -- her laconic name for a Muslim woman fully dressed in a hijab.
The story of "Na putu" is told in a linear fashion. It always holds the attention, and excels at letting us have a peek at the life in present-day Bosnia i Herzegowina. It always remains subtle and plausible and avoids, for example, to portray Amar and his radical Muslim brothers as wide-eyed fanatics and jihaddites; in a way, we understand while he chooses this path for himself, and why Luna seems to choose another one.
The also excels through great acting, amazing cinematography (it's shot on a Red digital video camera by the way, and the picture quality is stunning) and apt direction.
Simple scenes stay in mind. Such as when Luna films Amar with her cell phone while he's sleeping, and then watches the movie on her pillow when he's gone. Or when Amar protests against Luna grabbing his crotch in bed, to show that he is changing from lover to religious hothead.(IMDB)
