Balkan Line

Truly great to see the other perspective than presented in MSM or Hollywood

This movie shows the other side,the one that has been silenced and it does it really well

P First, I have distant relatives who suffered due to Serbia elsewhere in the Balkans so I am no fan of Serbia. And my eyes hurt, from rolling, at the frequent lies, and revisionism, by all the parties in the Balkans-Serbs most of all. P This movie is no more an accurate account of the real world Pristina Airport I ncident than ZULU was an accurate account of the Battle of Rourke's Drift. Or for that matter the Spanish movie on this conflict, GUERREROS. As with all too many films these days, "The Narrative" is front and center. P What distinguishes this movie is the excellent acting, pretty realistic combat scenes, and the leitmotif of The Last Stand. Strong character development and, unlike in ZULU, the opponents here- the Albanians-have real faces, emotions and lives outside the battle. Plus the line later in the movie when a character observes that of the Magnificent Eight" only one is Russian, the rest are diverse, even two Muslims with the "Eight". Want to watch a documentary-accurate account of the Incident? Skip this one for sure. Want to see a good actioneer that highlights the martial values of loyalty, bravery and honor (for BOTH sides)? The watch this one. Accuracy: 2*; Action:: 8*; Pathos:: 8*.

Balcan line caught my attention with its subject and the storyline description. The film is inspired with the Balcanic military conflict, Kosovo war, the bombing of Yugoslavia and the march to Pristina. Russian task force is ordered take control over the airdrome and wait for arrival of reinforcements under the fire of Albanian terrorists.

As for me the storyline is perfect. We see the events from the different points, in different locations. The narration is smooth. Dynamics increases gradually closer to the ending and tension does not let you go until the final credits.

Atmosphere which is crucial point in this genre is tense. The picture's filled with the pain and suffering of the Serbian people. The confrontation between the Serbs and the Albanians stands by in every glance, in every dialogue. There is drama more than enough. Sometimes it's extremely difficult to watch the film further extremely difficult but still interesting. Somebody may call it too lengthy, but personally I liked the gradual disclosure of the soldier characters, and then the dynamic and spectacular slaughter. In general, the authors allow themselves some artistic nonconformities in one direction or another, this makes the story even more interesting. Should say a word about the actors. Anton Pampushny (Shatay) and Gosha Kutsenko (Beck) are outstanding. Just bravo! Alexander Srechkovich (Smuk) looked great as an antagonist. You start to hate his image almost from the moment his character appears.

To sum up, Balcanic line is ambicious action drama which unexpectedly turned out to be great. However be ready for the oppressive and heavy atmosphere. Several people left the cinema before the middle of the cinema, a few others later. Not because the film was bad. Just the pressure is enormous. If you are highly sensitive, then I advise you to think carefully before watching it.

As a kid who survived NATO bombing '99 Yugoslavia I can only say that anyone who watch this movie will see what we have gone through. They maybe served you other picture on news all over the world, but the real truth lays in this movie. Movie has some hard scenes, be prepared to everything. For brutality and not hiding those scenes I give 9.5 rating. Something that Hollywood will never make.