As If I Am Not There

This film, although often difficult to watch, is an unflinching look at ethnic internment during the Bosnian War. There is little dialogue, and the film's message is conveyed through a variety of techniques, the first of which is lighting. Before the war, Samira (the main character) is framed with natural light, soft tones, and sunlit backgrounds. After her capture and subsequent internment, the lighting becomes stark and harsh. The main actress, Natacha Petrovic, is also able to convey Samira's thoughts and feelings through her carefully calculated facial expressions. The lack of dialogue allows the viewer to interpret much of the story, and also avoids contrived/overstated dialogue. The director is not Bosnia, but she seems to be intuitive and sensitive in presenting the material so that it does not feel exploitative. She also does not explicitly mention which ethnic group in interned and which group is interning (as it were), which is an excellent choice in that it allows for a wider variety of experiences to be represented. Although it is hinted that this specific film focuses on Bosnian Muslims being interned by Serbs, there is some wiggle room for other groups to be included as well.

A poignant haunting look at the Bosnian War and the atrocities committed. The film focuses on a young Bosniak girl who winds up at a Serbian War Camp. From here a story of the worst of humanity and the strength that lies within people to endure unspeakable hardship unfolds. The actress who plays the lead character Samira gives one of the best performances I have ever seen on film and says more with her eyes than other actress can say with pages of dialogue. The director does a phenomenal job of capturing the horror or war and more importantly does not use sensationalist tactics to solicit emotional responses from the audience. The story itself and the performances from the actors are powerful enough where they can stand alone.

A film that will likely fly under the radar - but an important one to see; as it acknowledges one of the saddest moments in recent history.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Samira (Natasa Petrovic) is a young teacher from Sarajevo who takes a teaching job in a small village as the Bosnian war hots up. One day, as she is taking her class, she finds everyone being rounded up by Serbian soldiers and, while she protests she is merely there to work, she nevertheless finds herself rounded up with the women. From this point on, she finds her dignity and human rights ripped to shreds, as she is subjected to the most degrading treatment imaginable as a sex object, but, to save herself and the other women, she finds the inner strength and resilience inside to rise up and be counted as a person.

It's a sad fact that sometimes the most affecting, heart wrenching stories involve being told the most unpleasant, disturbing ones, in order to feel their full impact. This is certainly the case with As If I Am Not There, which delves into the terrain of the Bosnian war in the early 90s. It's perversely fitting that it was not a widely seen film, because it holds little in the way of actual entertainment value...in fact, it's probably the furthest thing from entertaining you can imagine. In fact, sometimes you just feel like a sick person for watching it. But, as unflinching and terrible as some of the treatment is to watch, you have to see it in order to appreciate just what sort of hell went on.

But the strong acting and writing make it into a worth seeing film, even if it is one of the more disturbing ones you'll watch. ****

I kinda knew what to expect. The war in Bosnia was brutal. They didn't care about Geneva Conventions( I don't think they even heard about them) Rape was the instrument of the war by all sides. Thousands of Bosnian women were raped. There are many war movies but I think this movie is unique because it shows rape victims of war. Natasha Petrovic is incredible in this movie. Her eyes revealed everything every feeling. Hope to see her in different movie soon. And having read the book from Slavenka Drakulic I have to say that Juanita did great job. She didn't put blame on any side. You don't see army insignias and don't hears speeches about who started the war. You just see how innocent suffer in the war. This movie is very hard to watch and there are parts were you might even close your eyes. But it also shows strength of human being in midst of madness As a women I had to think what would I do in Samira's place. And probably the answer will be everything necessary in order to survive

Incredible Movie claims that the movie doesn't lay blame on any side in the war and that women were raped on all sides. This is ludicrous because it's obvious that Bosniak women in the movie were violated by the Serb militants. International commissions have established that most of the 12,000-50,000 women raped between 1992 and 1995 were Bosniak as a way of genocide by other means. The rapes of Serbian and Croatian women, as horrible as they are, occurred as instances of war crimes, not as part of Bosniaks' genocidal program of genetic transformation and intimidation.

Anyone interested in the facts of the rape issue in BiH should consult Wikipedia's article on the subject.