Nafaka

I have watched a lot of Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian movies regarding war at these countries. This movie is by far the best one. It shows real human emotions, it's funny and sad at the same time, very good characters, story, music. Sorry for my language, but these two negative reviews are bs. Dear reader, watch the movie.

Nafaka is a horrible movie. It was horrible when I was watching it for the first time, and it is still horrible, years after I've seen it for the first time. I wanted to add the comment (to start commenting on movies from Balkan region), but then I have seen good reviews and I was wandering maybe my first opinion was wrong, so as I am writing this, I am watching Nafaka DVD (yes I have it) in the same window. My opinion and memory was correct. It is still as horrible as the first time.

Film is trying to show the state Sarajevo was in during the war. It is trying too hard, using all available clichés we have seen in all the movies that tried too hard. From cheese love stories, to Bosnian-Mexican standoffs, to friends on two sides, PTSD affected soldiers, corrupt UN personnel, to whatever. I know some experts will state that human brain likes clichés because it is easy for it to follow the line, because we can recognize the pattern and get ready for where it is taking us. But sometimes you just overdo it and it makes you want to throw up.

While watching this movie for the second time, I was wandering who would give the money for this movie. The screen play could not read good and make movie this bad. Then I remembered, this movie was made by Jasmin Durakovic, who was the director of FTV, a public broadcasting corporation, main producer of the movie, which he wrote and directed. So there you have it. This movie was made thanks to conflict of interest and that explains a lot.

Out of 10 stars I cannot give it one, but I have to. Not even the great cast could save this movie. This, almost exactly the same cast was the pivotal point in the "Kod Amidze Idriza", voted to be one of ten best undistributed movies in the US by Indiewire for 2005, or in "Dobro Ustimani Mrtvaci" one of funniest movies I have seen it the last couple of years. This movie does not deliver at all. It basically fails on all points, of story, of directorship, everything. I actually had to turn it off, because it was too awful to watch again.

Every movie needs to fill the void in us. That is how great movies work. They find the common missing piece of a puzzle in all of us, and then fill it for those 120 minutes we spend watching. I was wandering which piece of puzzle that I am missing this movie was trying to fill and I have no idea.

I am disappointed by this movie. Although there are parts which I like and although it is recorded on place where I live and walk by every day, and in my language, still I can say this is poor quality movie. For example everything is so dark, negative, and not pretty, I am not amazed by the look of people by their look, not even the girls. The closest to being hot maybe looks that girl of amputee, but even that not enough. I am saying this because it is really not only actors who are guilty for not so pretty look here, but they are actually somehow looking darker, older, less pretty than in some other movies, some of which I rated best. Then the main part of war is done in rush, amateur way, and skipped. The part of war that is shown is shown in amateur way, almost unrealistic, where I could notice the fake acting, delays, unrealistic stuff. Too negative and long and boring. The only good things I liked is because bit funny filthy language, my language and place, good topic (Bosnian War), and involvement of international people. But not professional, not deep, not positive, not teaching, and desperate. That raft for example reminds me of personal dreams from childhood but it is so childish, amateur, unrealistic, boring. Bit funny smaller events but even that is too amateur. I think this movie misses the point and this is only good try, nothing more. It lacks real story, real war, honesty, depth, realism. For example I do not believe anything Janet says, and her words sound empty even at the end. I could not agree with her nor feel any emotion. I think Hollywood has already made the movie about us and it is better. And whatever she says sounds forced, boring, like acting, and not real. So good try.

"Nafaka is something strange in Bosnia. It is luck; and it isn't. It is fate; and it isn't. It is God's giving, and yet may not be."

I was born in 1993 in Bosnia. I don't have memories on war, but as far as I could tell, my parents and their generation could say a lot of that terrible conflict that they lived. My Nafaka is like that: I know so much about said war, but I cannot connect those stories with anything real. I sometimes feel lucky cause of that, and sometimes it makes me sad. Lucky cause there is no single experience from the war that could mess with my life and sad cause I know so much about it. That's my own Nafaka: so far but yet so close to something like that.

Nafaka is a story about realistic and wonderful people in times that are surreal and awful. Director and screenwriter chose to tell a story from a perspective of a stranger. Janet Hugh is that stranger, whom the career brought to Sarajevo and her Nafaka made her stay there. She discovered love and life in a place where both of those things were dying. She found people who were surviving, but all that they wanted is to live.

There are so many different topics that "Nafaka" is showing to us: life in times of war and after war; what are the things that gave people energy when everything was draining that energy away; what kind of consequences you will endure once you survived something terrible; etc etc etc.

I know that this movie didn't get the attention it deserves, so I'm gonna recommend it to every single person that I know. Everybody need this film. We Bosnians don't really know how to translate or even explain this strange word, Nafaka, so Jasmin Durakovic decided to tell us a story about it.

Is Nafaka life, or is life Nafaka? Find it out on your own.

Another masterpiece in Bosnian production, this film will give you a glimpse of reality in an unreal presentation of Bosnian war in its most delicate perspective - the ordinary person, in a besieged city, struggling to survive, find new values and preserve the old ones. These people are the ones we can learn from - how to live, how to fight, and how to forgive. The symbolism in post-war Bosnian production amazes me as I go from one release to another - from "Savrseni krug" to "Nebo iznad krajolika" I have sensed the pain and agony that ordinary Bosnians have went through during the nineties, and just a few hundred kilometers from where I grew up during the war, sad and nostalgic for the times of the 'old country' when our cinematography flourished with talents and a recognized film industry. There is more to come from this region as the source of Balkanian projection of 'tears and laughter' is inexaustable. "Nafaka" is perhaps a new page in illustrating the life in the aftermath of failed hopes and dreams, coping with the new reality, and looking towards the uncertain future with that particular collective spirit of the "Bosnian raja". Great performance by Miralem Zupcevic and Aleksandar Seksan, with legendary Mustafa Nadarevic once again delivering his best in a strong support role (for those who enjoy good Bosnian music, the soundtrack is fantastic, "Red Eye" being the theme made by Sejo Sexon).