When three soldiers discover a man inside a house they are bombing, they kill him easily, but when a second witness is discovered, she proves to be a bigger challenge and sets in motion a ri... Read allWhen three soldiers discover a man inside a house they are bombing, they kill him easily, but when a second witness is discovered, she proves to be a bigger challenge and sets in motion a riveting game of cat-and-mouse. Croatian with English subtitles. Winner: Peace Prize and Pri... Read allWhen three soldiers discover a man inside a house they are bombing, they kill him easily, but when a second witness is discovered, she proves to be a bigger challenge and sets in motion a riveting game of cat-and-mouse. Croatian with English subtitles. Winner: Peace Prize and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Berlin Int'l Film Festival. Official Selection: Karlovy Vary, ... Read all
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 11 wins & 1 nomination total
- Inspector Barbir
- (as Drazen Kuhn)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The story is set in Croatia during the factional wars that broke out in the 1990s--Serbs versus Croats in this case. A murder is carried out and the only witness is a young girl--what will happen to her?
The film abruptly jumps back in time several times replaying everything but adding more details each time at first I thought it was a defective DVD... Have never seen that done before.
Instead of intellectual gimmicks like this the film maker should have concentrated on toning down the silly dramatic scenes ... they don't wash.
It comes off as a grade B movie with intellectual pretensions.
Hard to rate something like this except comparing it to other films from the region.. Klopka (Serbian) was much better. so this film gets 5 stars..although it will engage you it just needs more refinement.
Adapted from the novel written by Jurica Pavicic who was also credited for co-writing the screenplay along with it's director, Vinko Bresan. The film opens with 3 soldiers in uniform killing a man after a planned break in of a man's home, When lead investigator, Barbir (Drazen Kuhn) investigates, viewers find out that the killing may be a political since this was during the times when hostilities and tensions arises when both Serbia and Croatians must get along. As the title indicates called "Wiitnesses", there also may be a possible "witness" in which viewers are oblivious about who is being held captive.
I agree with many of the other reviewers--an underrated film that should be watched. I give it 8 stars.
Note: as of Sep 2013, this film is available on Netflix Instant View as well as DVD. Glad I found it.
Did you know
- TriviaOfficial submission of Croatia for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 76th Academy Awards in 2004.
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 30m(90 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1