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Review #153 of 365
Film: Go West (2006) [R] 97 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: AMC Pacific Place Theatre, Seattle, WA
[Seattle International Film Festival]
When 1st Seen: 14 June 2006
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
You never know if you're mind is playing tricks on you or what when your movie EVERY day string goes over 150 days, and you're sitting in a packed theatre watching a Bosnia-Herzegovinian/Croatian film at the Seattle International Film Festival about a couple of unlikely lovers (a Muslim and a Serbian) who escape death and persecution when one gets the idea that the other should cross dress and pretend to be his girlfriend. Worse, on the mind tricks-front when you are certain you recognize the actor playing the Serb's father, Ljubo, but you cannot for the life of you figure out from where and are pretty sure you must be delusional. Well, upon returning home, it became clear that my mind was not playing tricks on me like a mind will also do when the extreme tragedy of a story is so incomprehensibly awful. The actor playing the Serb's father was Rade Serbedzija, you know, Dr. Aleksander Cirko from the new-last fall, NBC's occasionally incomprehensible, sci-fi show, Surface. Yeah, I knew I recognized him from somewhere. Honestly, I was beginning to think maybe I was getting somewhere in building my knowledge base on actors and their previous roles, but figuring out that this Croatian-born actor has actually been a character actor appearing in over 100 films and tv shows since he began his career in 1967 took the assistance of the most wonderful resource for anyone interested in facts about films the IMDb. All of this intro has really been my mind's way of trying to cope with some of the ghastly themes in the film. The truly terrible thing is that the film brings back to the forefront of my mind that the ethnic wars of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s really happened and that even though the world powers vowed never again to allow another Holocaust-like event to occur after the end of WWII and the Nuremburg Trials, the Europeans and the USAers waited an awfully long time before something was done about the atrocities, the genocide, and the war in the former Yugoslavia. I'll never forget how tenuous it all seemed when President Clinton said that the coalition forces of Europe and the United States were going to end the war and re-establish order in the war-torn region for humanitarian reasons. There were a lot of skepticism by the nation and people that were very uneasy about getting involved. It was quite the contrast to the number of people who, at the time of the Bush-announced invasion of Iraq, where nearly dancing in the streets in support. In any case, that is the past. And, this film, in some small way must play a role in bringing what happened back into our consciousness and helping the people of the region move. Still, this war needs to be remembered. What happened in the former Yugoslavia must be never be forgotten. The reason it must be remembered is that the fine line between a civilized society and civil war is so thin and easily crossed as soon as hate mongers are allowed to take control of public opinion. For some reason, it all seems so perfectly clear to me at this point, maybe it's the string of movies I've just seen, maybe it's my advancing age and experience, maybe it's just a flash of insight, but for whatever reason, the clarity is here. We, every one of us, every person that values life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, needs to set a goal of working to eliminate all forms of hatred from our planet. Ironically, hatred is not one of the seven deadly sins. Not sure exactly why, for when you really think about it, hatred is the cause of a lot more problems in the world than pride or sloth. Hatred is what Hitler used to galvanize his followers, and hatred is what a lot of right wing fundamentalists in the USA are using right now to galvanize their followers. In general, for a nation that has so much going for it, there is way too much hatred in the USA. There is hatred for people that are not born heterosexual, hatred for people that are not born in the USA and immigrate legally or illegally to earn a better life for their children, hatred for people who are not Christian, hatred for people that do not believe in a higher power, hatred against women (or at least the disbelief they are as important and worthwhile as men), and hatred for people with varying shades of skin color. And, for reasons quite unknown to me, hate mongering is easy to spread. Hate mongers will protest the funerals of USA service people. Hate mongers will burn the houses of worship of other religions. Hate mongers who will spray graffiti on the monuments of others. Hate mongers will run for Congress and even get elected so they can legislate their hate. These people who are so filled with hate as to be blind to what's real, what's sacred, what matters. Thinking about all this hatred can get one really, really angry and want to do something about it like writing a long movie review asking people who are filled with hatred to stop hating and to start really living. Hatred has never and will never accomplish anything useful. Hate is a tool for destruction not construction. Hate is the root of evil. And teaching and spreading hatred to the young and impressionable must be the worst crime and sin of all.
"This film is a revelation…gives perspective to the lives of the people in the war torn regions of the former Yugoslavia… a reasonably successful [film]."
Well, that's my piece, for what it's worth. And, it ties back to the situation of our Go West protagonists, the Muslim cellist, Kenan (Mario Drmac) and his Serbian lover, Milan (Tarik Filipovic) who endure the tumultuous times of Serbian hate-mongering and genocide only because Milan gets the idea to hide Kenan from the Serbian military that will kill any Muslim male, by disguising him as his girlfriend. And, as irony would have it, no sooner do they escape temporarily from the conflicts of the war to get to Milan's home town and the protection of his father, do his father and best friend, so delighted by Milan's new girlfriend, arrange for them to be married in a lavish ceremony. The newlyweds continue to live the charade as they await papers that will allow them to immigrate to Milan's dream country of Holland. Unfortunately, before any such move can be made Milan gets drafted to fight on the front line leaving behind his Kenan to tend to household chores and ultimately fall perilously into the lovesick clutches of the town's Desperate Housewife with no husband, Ranka (Mirjana Karanovic) who discovers that Kenan is the 'man' she's always been looking for. Her rage and hatred, however, get the better of her when she finds that Kenan's heart will always belong to Milan, and she takes revenge in the most vile of ways. Ultimately, Ljubo will come to Kenan's rescue, and help send him on his way West.
This film is a revelation on many levels. It gives perspective to the lives of the people in the war torn regions of the former Yugoslavia. The destruction of villages and lives of people who were living under the control of a terrible regime during the Soviet-controlled years; only to be left in the clutches of these leaders then without Soviet checks and controls as soon as the Iron Curtain fell. Meanwhile, for all her flaws, Ranka, for example sets up the shoes on the stairs of the bombed houses. This, she does, she says, because it preserves the outlines of the people. Everywhere, in fact, you see people trying to make sense of the madness that their world has become. Toward the point, one particularly distasteful and ironic incident occurred a bit later when a group of Serbians riding in a boat on a trailer pulled by a car with their horse in another trailer being pulled by a team of seven Muslim men all harnessed together like a pack of sled dogs. It was a chilling scene, so absurd as to draw laughter especially at the irony of horse riding around in a human-drawn carriage, and yet so poignant as to stir regret, anger, bemusement, and sadness that human beings could ever act in such a loathsome fashion as to strip each other of all human dignity and respect. What kind of and how much hatred must one harbor toward others to allow oneself to participate in such an action? The actors have done a very good job of balancing the sur-reality of their characters' situations with the desperation. The writer / director Ahmed Imamovic keeps this theme working throughout as the story has many endings and beginnings, nice touches and touches of war, challenges and comforts. When all summed up, considering budget, locations, and experience, the film turned out to be a reasonably successful one. More and more I think that the people who argue for tolerance are selling our human capacity short. We don't need tolerance of people, places, and ideas that are different from others, we need love, peace, acceptance, and understanding. Tolerance implies it's okay for a person to still hate within as long as he/she doesn’t' act upon it outside. I like to believe we can do far better than that.
_______
Crazy One Degree of Separation Discovery: Rade Serbedzija was also in the film EuroTrip. The film reviewed two days ago, Peaceful Warrior, starred Scott Mechlowicz who was also in EuroTrip. Weird coincidence or proof of a very small world.
This film is a revelation on many levels. It gives perspective to the lives of the people in the war torn regions of the former Yugoslavia. The destruction of villages and lives of people who were living under the control of a terrible regime during the Soviet-controlled years; only to be left in the clutches of these leaders then without Soviet checks and controls as soon as the Iron Curtain fell. Meanwhile, for all her flaws, Ranka, for example sets up the shoes on the stairs of the bombed houses. This, she does, she says, because it preserves the outlines of the people. Everywhere, in fact, you see people trying to make sense of the madness that their world has become. Toward the point, one particularly distasteful and ironic incident occurred a bit later when a group of Serbians riding in a boat on a trailer pulled by a car with their horse in another trailer being pulled by a team of seven Muslim men all harnessed together like a pack of sled dogs. It was a chilling scene, so absurd as to draw laughter especially at the irony of horse riding around in a human-drawn carriage, and yet so poignant as to stir regret, anger, bemusement, and sadness that human beings could ever act in such a loathsome fashion as to strip each other of all human dignity and respect. What kind of and how much hatred must one harbor toward others to allow oneself to participate in such an action? The actors have done a very good job of balancing the sur-reality of their characters' situations with the desperation. The writer / director Ahmed Imamovic keeps this theme working throughout as the story has many endings and beginnings, nice touches and touches of war, challenges and comforts. When all summed up, considering budget, locations, and experience, the film turned out to be a reasonably successful one. More and more I think that the people who argue for tolerance are selling our human capacity short. We don't need tolerance of people, places, and ideas that are different from others, we need love, peace, acceptance, and understanding. Tolerance implies it's okay for a person to still hate within as long as he/she doesn’t' act upon it outside. I like to believe we can do far better than that.
_______
Crazy One Degree of Separation Discovery: Rade Serbedzija was also in the film EuroTrip. The film reviewed two days ago, Peaceful Warrior, starred Scott Mechlowicz who was also in EuroTrip. Weird coincidence or proof of a very small world.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Review-lite [150-word cap]
Coping with some of the ghastly themes of writer / director Ahmed Imamovic's Go West, a Bosnia-Herzegovinian/Croatian film set during the ethnic wars of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s is challenging. Still, this war needs to be remembered. What happened in the former Yugoslavia must be never be forgotten. The Go West protagonists were the Muslim cellist, Kenan (Mario Drmac) and his Serbian lover, Milan (Tarik Filipovic) who endure the tumultuous times of Serbian hate-mongering and genocide only because Milan gets the idea to hide Kenan from the Serbian military that will kill any Muslim male, by disguising him as his girlfriend. This film is a revelation on many levels giving perspective to the lives of the people in the war torn regions, and, the actors have done an excellent job of balancing the sur-reality of their characters' situations with the desperation of their real life situation.
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