Anatema

Despite the fact Anatema is obviously a non-professional and mostly amateur production, if you are able to bear the terrible acting of the first 15 minutes, you´ll find out this film tells a painful story that depicts pretty well the horrors of the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and the misguided actions of NATO and the UN. To anyone interested on how mean human beings could be to each other, if we are given the chance, watching this movie would be a must; because this is the kind of cinema that reminds us Walter Benjamin´s quote: "There is no document of culture that is not at the same time a document of barbarism".

The horrors committed by the Serbian former Communists and their Bosnian Serb allies were horrendous, and the Free World's feckless response was a scandal, which has yet to be adequately captured on film. The Hunting Party had some intriguing moments, but was undercut by a weak lead performance and displayed more interest in criticizing NATO for a lack of zealousness pursuing war criminals than dramatizing the actual crimes. Though not perfect, writer-director Agim Sopi's Anatema (trailer here), now available on DVD, serves as a valuable corrective, shining a light on Serbian war crimes, in this case committed in Kosovo. Sopi's original intention was to document war crimes occurring in Kosovo with a documentary, but when the Serbian army confiscated his film, he was forced to shift his efforts to a narrative film. After surviving the subsequent brutality of the Serbs, Schwartz broadcasts his report, only to be recalled by his network due to the impending NATO intervention. He and his field producer want to take Berisha with them, but she insists on returning to her home in Pristine. Despite the temporary joy of a reunion with her fiancé, leading to their long postponed wedding, Pristine quickly turns into a nightmare. The Serbian forces occupy the city, deliberating using organized rape as a tool of terror and pacification, before expelling the survivors to Albania. On her return to Kosovo, Berisha is rejected by her husband and spurned by most of her friends. Nobody wants her to keep her baby (which for all she knows could be the product of her wedding night). The Kosovars do not want her to keep the presumed product of Serbian war crimes and issue of Serbian blood. The Serbs do not want such babies to survive as evidence of their crimes. Berisha is determined not to punish Ana, her unborn daughter, for the crimes of others. Indeed, Anatema (Ana + Ema) may well be the most pro-life film ever made. Berisha is forced to temporarily give up Ana for adoption, but when she returns to claim her, the agency is gone. She tracks Ana to a astery appropriated by the old Communists and novae mobsters trafficking in babies, both for profit and disposing of war crimes evidence. Anatema is at heart a mother's story and as such is wholly dependent on its lead actress. Unlike Richard Gere in Hunting Party, Lumnie Sopi is terrific as Ema. Unfortunately, many of the supporting actors are considerably weaker, although Blerim Gjoci is likeably credible as the sympathetic Kosovar Commander Shpati. Director Sopi truly takes the audience to occupied Kosovo, rightly forcing viewers to confront the reality of the war crimes committed there. However, he can be a bit heavy-handed, as when he shows a stampeding crowd trampling a baby's doll. Still, his portrayals of Serbian brutality and the clueless ness of the international policing forces are infuriatingly effective, all of which is ultimately held together by an impressive lead performance.

I just watched this film on the Internet hoping for some insight on the Balkan conflict. I remember the debate in the U.S. when the talk of NATO intervention began and didn't understand the complexity of the conflict then (despite trying to follow the major news coverage). I still don't. I hoped watching this non-U.S. film would be informative. It is a low budget film. The early section does seem like propaganda. Serbs are portrayed only as villains and never victims - often in very melodramatic scenes. War crimes were committed, but they occurred on all sides with victims of all ethnic groups. This is not addressed. The movie does get better in showing the post-war aftermath. I think this is because the character of Ema is sympathetic and her countrymen are shown in a more realistic way. Some are helpful despite their own suffering; some are openly antagonistic; some are corrupt and opportunistic in the post-war chaos. I think this would be true of any nation in a similar situation. This is not the objective film I wanted, but it did give me some insight into the feelings of one side of the conflict. I don't think it deserves a 10, but neither does it lack any merit as a commentary on the war and it's aftermath.

Just Jeeeeeesus Christ. I wouldn't even bother indulging this pile of manure enough to write a two-sentence "review" about it, but the thought that some poor sod on the other side of the globe will watch it and take it seriously makes me wanna vomit. It makes me wonder about the nature of the creators of this "film," though. I mean no disrespect to the mentally challenged, disadvantaged folks, but I really have to wonder if the creators of this picture are simply mentally handicapped? Are they of low intelligence? Are they simply evil? But then I remember: To make an effective propaganda piece, one needs to be intelligent, even artistic. This leads me to believe that the creators here are both malicious and unintelligent. Nonetheless, it is shocking to me that a human being in the 21st century can be of such low dignity and self-respect, stoop so low, lie so shamelessly about matters so serious and delicate, never once stopping to think: "What the hell am I doing? This is wrong, so horribly wrong!" If I wasn't so liberal and such a huge admirer of the art of film, I'd wish to see these people in jail. Those who live in the Balkans have likely gone through that childhood moment where their semi-senile grandma or grandpa tell them horror stories about the "others," how they are coming for them with knives, how they lust after our blood etc. Well, imagine a situation where a grandma is telling a completely insane, overblown story of the evil others and how they will come for the child if he or she doesn't eat those vegetables. This film's scrip is how that CHILD would retell the story. Indeed, it is worse than the ravings of a semi-senile grandmother. As you might have guessed, I am a Serb, and I am not particularly bothered by the implications that this kind of portrayal of Serbs can have for my people, cause it can't. It's just that stupid. Above all, this movie is a disservice to Albanians, and if a Serb ever made a piece of propaganda so primitive, lurid, and obscene and called it a film, I'd be ashamed of them.

This is genuinely, and I'm not exaggerating, the worst film I have ever seen. Because of the seriousness of the topic, it can't be a The Room "so bad it's good" type of film. This horrible monstrosity is offensive to me as a film student and as a Kosovo Albanian simultaneously. I simply wish it had never been made.