IN BOSNIA, A DISAPPEARANCE OF MORE THAN ONE KIND

MONTREAL FILM FESTIVAL, August 31, 2014 – The Bosnian War, which was fought between 1992 and 1995, resulted in the formation of Bosnia and Herzegovina but the conflict cost the inhabitants of that war-torn land and surrounding nations such as Croatia dearly. It has been estimated that nearly a quarter of the Croatian economy, for example, was devastated, with much of the country’s physical infrastructure in ruins as well as thousands of people displaced as refugees.

But a new film from Bosnia, called The Bridge at the End of the World, makes the case that the damage went far beyond the physical. The emotional and spiritual toll was enormous, too, leaving many without much work, despondent, and almost hopeless. Many of the scenes in the film, for example, depict burned out and decrepit Bosnian homes and buildings and the equally burned out people who exist – live would be too strong a word – in them. The film leaves one wondering whether the people have any future at all.

This context forms the basis of the mystery at the heart of The Bridge at the End of the World. The story starts with the return of Serbs who were forced to leave their homes during the war. Bosnian Croats whose villages had been destroyed during the fighting were forced to relocate as refugees in the homes of the fleeing Croatian Serbs. With the return of the Serbs, the Bosnian Croats start to feel uneasy about their future.

In the midst of this, an elderly Bosnian Croat named Jozo disappears. Local police officer Filip is charged with investigating the old man’s disappearance. Filip interviews relatives and acquaintances of the old man, traces his most recent movements, and, in the process, compiles conflicting views of the events and the people involved.

But a seemingly obscure clue signals a breakthrough, which enables Filip to discover the real reason the old man has disappeared.

The film is uncompromising in its depiction of the Bosnian Croats and the world in which they now live. Idle, listless, seemingly without motivation to rebuild their homes and their lives, powerless over their fate, the Bosnians drink hard liquor and smoke endlessly as they stare into the void. The photography, with its tight close-ups, seems to suggest that most of the people exist only in a moment in time, that they have no better future.

The exception is a woman named Sanja who Filip connects with, a waitress who appears on the edge of becoming a prostitute but who wants to find a way to a better life. Filip helps the young woman, providing the film’s singular ray of hope.

The director of the film is Branko Istvancic. The actors include Aleksander Bogdanovic as Filip; Slaven Knezovic, as Jozo’s nephew Dragan; and Sanja Radisic as Filip’s friend Sanja. The film’s running time is 115 minutes.