Go West

...than the ID card, at least in this time and place. Milan's ownership of one and Kenan's lack thereof fuel the plot to have Kenan disguise himself as a woman so he won't have to 'show his credentials' and get himself summarily shot.

The combination of 10% cinema and historical genocide makes for a tense and edgy ride, especially when the new 'couple' is welcomed home and a wedding is performed. Not much affection is seen between the characters as everyone is on a war-footing, with an all-pervasive fear coloring everyone's actions. The love triangle that later develops does not end well, as so few do. The lives of the characters does not improve, nor do we expect it to based on the sad and tragic history of the heirs to Yugoslavia's breakup.

Perhaps my favorite moment is when Milan's father Ljubo states that they just should get rid of the Serbs. And the Croats. And the Bosnians. So then "decent people could enjoy this beautiful country".

A pretty good watch and a great statement on peoples' rights, regardless of gender, orientation, or ethnicity.

This portrayal of the oppression and discrimination that existed in Bosnia-Herz... is eye opening. Not only was the lead hated and oppressed because he was Muslim, but also he was further despised because he was gay. I would rate this movie even more important than America's Brokeback Mountain. I am openly stating that this is the best movie I have ever seen at Toronto's InsideOut Film Festival throughout it's 16 year run. Congratulations to this film's creators. You had me riveted to the screen from the moment the film opened. I am waiting to find out where I can purchase this movie on DVD to add it to my personal library.

I saw this film and discussion with regiseur at Int. Film Festival 2005 in Bratislava. There were some moments in the film especially at the beginning that confused me - I did not know if it is a comedy or tragedy... The great thing is that such film was created in BiH & Serbia. Homosexuality is not a usual topic there and I hope this film could move things forward and force people at Balcan to think and talk about tolerance with connection to homosexuals and in connection with other nationalities too. I have seen some documentaries from Belegrad about life of gays there. It was very depressing and the message was the same like in this film - go west, don't stay at Balcan. I hope that things are going to improve in Balcan countries and gay-rights will be closer to European standards or they will be at least improving that way. Tomas

I saw this film tonight at the Image Out Film Festival in Rochester and what I saw is a powerful story about both love and hate reaching across ethnic and religious boundaries.

The love is what Mario Drmec and Tarik Filipovic have for each other. Same sex couples have it bad enough there, but in this case Mario is a Moslem from Bosnia and Tarik is a Serb.

The story is told to us in flashback by Mario being interviewed by a French journalist played by Jeanne Moreau. As Yugoslavia breaks apart the various ethnic groups resume all their ancient hatreds and start killing each other with vehemence as we all read in the Nineties.

Mario in order to pass into the Christian Serbian area goes into drag. It seems as though the Christians check out the privates of all the males and if they're circumcised as Moslems have to do as well as Jews they're summarily shot. The ruse works, but the lovers have to continue the masquerade when they get to Tarik's village. Or at least until a helpful friend can obtain the necessary documents to go west to the other side of the Rhine in Europe. Of course when someone does discover the ruse there are unforeseen consequences.

Yugoslavia itself was a creation of western European fatuity. Serbia was on the Allied side of World War I and they got a kind of hegemony over a whole lot of territory formerly belonging to both the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires. At Versailles the Serb king was made monarch over the whole polyglot nation and after World War II, a very charismatic leader named Josip Broz Tito led an independent Marxist/Socialist government.

When Marshal Tito died, the country itself died. Held together by an extraordinary man the one thing Tito did not do was solve any ancient hatreds. What happens here happened all over what was Yugoslavia, only this story has gay angle to it.

Love, even same sex love can bridge all kinds of boundaries if we're open to it. The friend who is helping the lovers urges them to go west to western Europe where they can live free and prosper. All they have there is ethnic hatred.

One other very valuable lesson here is that the film does focus on the atrocities of the Serbs and the Bosnians. Remember this is now a decade where admittedly Moslems are doing some horrible things in many parts of the globe. I am glad that the villain here is not one religion, but a fanatical fundamentalist interpretation of any religion with which people can justify all kinds of barbarism.

Ahmed Imamovic the director has received death threats from all sides in the former Yugoslavia for even creating a story involving gay people there. The man has risked his life for this powerful story, buy a ticket and don't miss it.

My initial impressions of 'Go West' were that it would primarily be a fairly damning commentary on the Yugoslav war – a harsh, but sobering drama that would leave the viewer in no doubt as to the futility of ethnic and religious hatred, and indeed war itself. Which indeed it us, but it is also a condemnation of homophobia, while at the same time, the sheer absurdity of the fleeing couple's predicament elevates 'Go West's discourse into black comedy and farce – something that writers Ahmed Imamovic and Enver Puska expertly mesh with the general message of social meltdown and the way it destroyed Bosnia and Herzegovina - without one theme compromising the other.

Horror and madness must come before absurdity of course, and there is definitely nothing to laugh at during the opening sequences, where the two protagonists carry on with their lives in Sarajevo before they are overwhelmed by the turmoil. Director Imamovic weaves genuine newsreel footage of the conflict into his specially-shot sequences of Serbian militia terrorising the locals and gunning down the Muslim population (with soldiers forcing men's pants down in search of tell-tale circumcisions). As Milan and Kenan's lives are quickly overturned, forcing them into flight, the audience is given a street-level snapshot of how the conflict might have been experienced firsthand.

Fuelled by such life-or-death desperation, I found myself wondering if indeed the real-life Muslim homosexuals might too have disguised themselves as married women in order to escape execution. As Kenan himself states at the beginning, "On the Balkans, it's easier to bear if someone in the family is a murderer rather than a faggot (sic)." Under pressure from all sides, much of the tension in 'Go West' therefore derives from we the audience wondering just how long he will be able to maintain his disguise while besieged by threats on all sides (some not necessarily malicious) to expose the truth. Actor Mario Drmac plays the would-be transvestite with great skill, giving Kenan a quiet strength, though portraying him on a knife-edge as the drama escalates. 'Go West' is ultimately his story, showing the lengths the natives must go through in order to survive the war: humiliation, desperation, and above all, loss, leaving only courage or madness to dictate how one lives their remaining life.

The writers are also keen to point out the ridiculousness of the predicament, not only through Kenan's constant struggle to ensure his 'breasts' appear convincing or the stubble from his face, but in the whole cast of villagers whose world ranges from witchcraft and superstition to the local priest more concerned with political rhetoric than the salvation of the soul. Some of the characters are obvious comic relief, while in other cases, the humour creeps up on you with the forced jollity of the inhabitants that causes events to spiral further out of control. Ljubo is perhaps the strongest example of this. Wonderfully played by veteran actor Rade Serbedzija, the one-time Texan rancher fights daily against resignation and melancholy in the face of so much loss, unable to see that his good intentions are making things harder. His son Milan, played by Tarik Filipovic, sits somewhere between the two people he cares about most: warm and all-embracing, yet feeling as though only he truly understands the sacrifices that must be made. In contrast, Ranka, in a strong performance by Mirjana Karanovic, has far baser desires, which threaten to unravel the entire social fabric. Tragically, only the viewer is ultimately able to see the lighter side of their predicament.

While I think the blend of drama and black humour hold together well, there are some aspects of the script that don't entirely work as well as they could. The witchcraft element, for example, seems to be there simply to build up the potential threat of certain characters, yet ultimately doesn't seem to have any other meaning beyond this. Elsewhere, the murder of certain antagonists seems out-of-character for those enacting them, and done simply to pull the writers out of a hole during the all-important climax. This may sound a little odd in a film where senseless killing would be considered inevitable, but perhaps readers will know what I mean when they watch for themselves.

Ultimately however, these elements do not cause serious damage to the film's central premise, nor fear and madness of one of the 20th Century's most brutal civil wars. It does not try to be universal commentary on the fall of the republic, but instead 'zoom in' to a snapshot of the personal tragedy and persecution of those perceived to be socially abhorrent, which of course, they were not – merely ordinary people trying to survive. It reminds me of similarly-themed Albanian film, 'Slogans', also a drama/black comedy exploring the absurdity borne of a society descending into madness and painting itself into a corner. In 'Go West' however, there is a much higher body count.

This, and the many twists and turns of the plot, may cause the viewer to wonder if anyone will ultimately get out alive. In the end, 'Go West' delivers a bittersweet conclusion and a very poignant message. Hope survives, though many will have to die first – a not incongruous ending for film with war as its subject. Definitely recommended.