Valley of Peace

A Slovak boy lost in daydreams, a remarkably intelligent German girl fluent in two languages, and a Black American pilot who enlisted and found himself in Europe, conversant in German.

"Dolina Miru" tells the story of how these three disparate individuals are, in fact, more alike than they appear. It unfolds as a kind of road movie.

While the character of Sgt. Jim, played by John Kitzmiller, occasionally resembles a stereotype plucked from the pages of a Mark Twain novel, this might be attributed to the era in which the film was made. Indeed, Kitzmiller even received an award for this role at the Cannes Film Festival.

Screened in the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and subsequently restored from its original 35mm format, this film is a cinematic treasure that remains sadly underrated.

With dialogue that sometimes seamlessly blends Slovenian, German, and English, I would also recommend this film to those who wish to give their ears a truly cosmopolitan workout.

Yes. Even Slovene film production was once a good one. However, a long, long time ago. Films like Na svoji zemlji (On Our Own Land), Dolina miru (Valley of Peace), Ne joci, Peter (Don't Cry, Peter), Srecno, Kekec (Good Luck, Kekec) and Vesna were the best Slovenian cinematography had ever produced. A new wave has came out recently (Kosak, Sterk, some films of low budget production) and it gives us a hope for better days in Slovenian film, but those films made 5-15 years after WWII are still remaining the law for Slovene film-makers. Dolina miru: Simple, but yet,good story, superb act esp. John Kitzmiller and young Evelyne Wohlfeiler as Lotti. If you are interested in Slovenian film, I highly recommend you to see DOLINA MIRU!

The story will certainly remind the audience of René Clément's "jeux interdits" ("forbidden games" ) ; this Yugoslavian movie compares favorably with it :two kids left alone in the living hell of WW2.

When Jim (John Kitzmiller) buries his captain, Lotti burries her headless doll like Paulette did for her dog in the 1951 work.

The valley of peace the children are looking for is a mirage their imagination nourishes ; it echoes to Jim 's "swing low sweet chariot" :"I saw a band of angels coming to carry me home" :his valley of peace is the Christian Eden .The white horse , looking like a legendary unicorn , adds to the magic of the rare happy moments.

Admirable scenes:

-Marko ,playing soldiers with his pals ,and a panoramic showing the devastated town

-Marko ,opening a door in his house : this short sequence succintly sums up all the horror a child of war endures .

-The sanctuary the children thinks they have found in the uncle's mill .

-The hope against hope of the final scene.

There's a perfect chemistry between the American soldier and the kids ; the excellent John Kitzmiller would end his career with the European version of "Uncle Tom's cabin" (the main role) (1965)