MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

alexdeleonfilm . "Esma's Secret, Grbavica". Bosnia Hercegovina, Language Bosnian. Surprise Berlin 2006 Golden Bear prize winner by Jasmila Žbavićs is set in postwar Sarajevo. The Yugoslav wars of the early nineties have been largely forgotten in the wake of subsequent world events. However, over a decade later the wounds of the merciless conflict between Serbia and succession state Bosnia still stokes the coals of regional filmmakers. This gripping film stars Mirjana Karanovic as a war widow Esma, and Luna Mijović as her beautiful but troubled teenage daughter. Daughter wants to believe her missing father was a Bosnian martyr (shaheed) but is shocked when her mother reveals that she was raped by Serbians so her father would have been a Chetnik rapist. Very powerful. Jasmila Žbavićsm is a femme director to keep an eye on.

kosmasp This movie is not entertainment in the (Hollywood) main stream kind of meaning. You're not supposed to feel good about anything. Why should you, while watching a woman in her desperate attempts to lead a normal life after a war (balkan war) that destroyed so many homes? The answer is, you should feel her pain and that is the tricky part for the director and the script. Can they still hold their audience, while showing us raw and gritty life situations, where we might even hate the main character? The answer is yes! They can. But which is also a testament to the actress! Yes this is a drama, about the effects a war can have on people and how they try to deal with it ... and it is a good one at that!

aiculik Before yesterday, I didn't know ANYTHING about Bosnian actors or directors. I only went to see it because of Leon Lucev - I know him from Sta je muskarac bez brkova. Well, I discovered Jasmila Zbanic, Mirjana Karanovic, Luna Mijovic yesterday. Both actresses were brilliant. The director managed to show normal life of Sarajevo, it was so easy to identify with Esma and Sara's problems, even for people who never had such traumatic experience.That's why the ending was even more shocking. I had tears in my eyes (and that happens very rarely, I'm not sentimental at all) - and when I secretly looked around, I saw all the others have tears in their eyes, too.One little off-topic comment: I saw here comment that Esma shouldn't swear to Tito in the film, because she was too young when Tito died, and her generation didn't feel Titoism so strong. I was only 3 when Tito died. But even 8 years AFTER he died, we (in Croatia) still had to sing "Comrade Tito, we swear to you not to turn off your path" and "Comrade Tito, white violet, all young people love you. Young and old love you, you are our pride and our hope" - we had to sing it on all school events on holidays.

todorovic Very simply a honest, straightforward and earnest film about a topic that is just so important to be informed about and discussed.The camera-work is so to the point, so is every little piece of direction. The acting is sharp, clear and real all the way through. - I was hoping for Mirjana Karanovic (as well as Luna Mijovic) to win the Bear for their incredibly focused performances. Well, they didn't get it, shame, I thought, but then again, a golden bear for best film is not so bad either...! So congratulations to Jasmila and the whole team and the four different producers from four countries making this possible in joint effort! - And given all these plain and clear ingredients, what you end up with is one of the most moving "movies" I have seen for a very long time. This film is not about reinventing the wheel, it is simply all about showing how incredibly well a well made wheel can work.