Birdy (1984)

"Birds of the Same Feather Flock with Each Other"

I had great expectations for this Alan Parker movie that I have been meaning to watch for years. In my opinion, it is a classic that everybody should watch once but I also have mixed feelings about it. The plot is fairly simple. When 2 childhood friends come back from Vietnam among the casualties, one has lost it, the other is disfigured and will try to connect to his friend and bring him back from the crazies. In terms of harsh topics, Birdy is no testing ground for Parker. With this movie, the director deals with post-war mental and physical trauma as well as the struggle to fit in as a high schooler. On one hand, the combination of the Peter Gabriel-made soundtrack and the flying camera shots really convinced me. On the other, I thought it beats around the bush for quite a while. Nicolas Cage's monologues are a bit sketchy even though his overall performance is good. Matthew Modine makes a convincing quiet and deranged bird-lover. As I'm no war-movie enthusiast, I appreciate the fact that Birdy only shows a few war scenes. The plot is largely based on childhood flashbacks. Birdy is a good movie and I get satisfaction and personal pride to have watched it. 

1 reason to watch: very few war scenes

In the Land of Blood and Honey / U zemlji krvi i meda (2011)

A Mixture of War and Love

As I am no expert on the Bosnian war, I cannot judge this movie from historical facts but I can tell you that In the Land of Blood and Honey is a very promising directorial debut for Angelina Jolie. She wrote, directed, and partly produced it. It is by definition an American Foreign-language movie as she made the logical but clever move to film it in Bosnian and Serbian with a totally local cast. In the Land of Blood and Honey is a story set in the heart of the Bosnian war that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 90s. It is a love story on a war background... Or is it the other way around? Both stories are intelligently tangled up together. The plot is simple: Danijel, a Bosnian Serb soldier, finds his former Bosniak love, Ajla who becomes his prisoner. I am definitely not a sucker for war movies but I have to admit that it is a poignant tale even if it's a bit slow at times. Jolie has the balls to show the atrocities of war and the treatments of prisoners during this specific battle (human shields and rapes among others). I thought that In the Land of Blood and Honey raised good questions. Mainly this one: what would I do in their position? You soon realize that both positions are complicated: being the persecutor of your former friends or lover among your hateful fellow soldiers AND being the prisoner of someone you used to hang out with. What would you rather be? I found out, I'd rather not have to choose. This movie shows brutal scenes: to watch with caution. I am blown away by Zana Marjanović's interpretation of Ajla. It might come from the fact that she has actually experienced this war. As I said before, actors who speak the language of the country where the story is supposed to happen is always the best option.

1 reason to watch: Angelina Jolie's directorial debut

English-speaking version of the trailer but I recommend you watch the movie in its original language