As If I Am Not There

Ein Äquivalent zu Filmaussagen über das Leiden in KZs. Ein rohes, stilles Drama über die grausamen Taten, die an Frauen (und Mädchen) in Bosnien und Herzegowina zwischen 1992 und 1995 verübt wurden. Mit den Augen einer jungen Frau, die im falschen Augenblick am falschen Ort gewesen ist. Fast der ganze Film spielt sich in einem Lager für Frauen ab, in einer schwülen Atmosphäre, auf einem leeren Platz mit drei Häusern. Die meisten unangenehmen Dinge (Töten, Vergewaltigungen, Demütigungen) finden nicht vor der Kamera statt. Es kommt aber zu einer naturalistischen Szene, die länger dauert, als es den Zuschauer*innen angenehm ist. Die minimalistische Natasa Petrovic in der Hauptrolle ist ausreichend, über den Cameoauftritt von Skarsgård freut man sich. Am Ende verwandelt sich der Film von einer deprimierenden Aussage aus dem Lager in eine Überlegung über die Folgen von grausamen Taten, mit denen die Hauptfigur nicht nur in ihren Gedanken leben, sondern sie noch als eigenes Blut in der Familie annehmen muss… 4* kann ich nicht geben – die zweite Hälfte des Films (die Beziehung mit dem Kapitän) ist im Hinblick auf die Psychologie der Figuren und ihr Handeln weniger glaubwürdig. Aber auch so handelt es sich um ein starkes, unvergessliches Erlebnis, nach dem Sie schlecht einschlafen werden. (02.03.2012)

I am surprised this film was made by the Irish, considering it takes place at the Balkans. I don’t think the Balkans have anything to be embarrassed about. What this film shows really happened in their countries in the nineties and it was so disgusting that when trying to describe the Balkan war, I am often left speechless. This film often lacked more dialogue or at least clear explanations. Everything relied on the audience explaining everything for themselves. Sometimes the camera shots were so drastic that if you saw them in real life, it would be really hard to recover from. Similar shots are featured in the Russian war movie Come and See. Like I say, As If I Am Not There is a really hard film to process. The Balkan war woke the worst instincts in the local men and developed them to the maximum. I don’t say other wars didn’t do that as well, but here it is still pretty recent. (14.01.2018)

As If I Didn't See It. Check out the poster and keep yourself engaged for 40 minutes. Congratulations, you're almost halfway through the movie. The Bosnian-Serbian conflict is sadly starting to become my cinematic nemesis, because after the awful Twice Born, this is yet another whiny tryst of apathetic women in the same setting, where you can still see the unsteady hand of a not-very-talented debutante unable to trouble the cast and crew enough to achieve the rawness and authenticity of the scenes depicted. All of that is simulated here instead by the barn in the field and the main character's expression, which only raises the suspicion that she might be made out of rubber. In the end, though, the worst part of the film is the director's decision not to make any comment on the political background to the conflict, and unless you have some exposure to the period, you won't be able to tell what kind of oppression she is suffering under. Thus, it becomes not an account of the horrors of war perpetrated on women, but a purely ideological war of weak women against uncouth and stupid men. (29.08.2014)

A strong story, no doubt about it. A young woman goes to a problematic country to teach there. It's not a distant country, but it is Bosnia and Herzegovina. The woman suffers here, and her suffering is portrayed with incredible camera work, which definitely has the right, unpleasant effect on viewers. However, I can't help but feel that the film didn't make such a strong impression on me. (23.06.2016)