Captifs

The film starts in Yugoslavia, crosses borders into Kosovo and ends at the back of a UN jeep.

War is perpetual. That is obvious and that is also the message in a cage where there is no mercy, no compassion or respect for life when the rush of war takes over. It is an imperative that it be so, such is the obstinate nature of war and 'Captifs'.

Director Yaan Gozlan's first feature length moves you with atmosphere, sound and baffling and hypnotic camera work. sometimes it moves you inside out and you can also watch it happening (derealisation in films).

'Captifs' is like a kid casually telling a story and suddenly everything gets very serious, extremely uncomfortable and horrific. Some scenes make you want to look away, but you don't; such is the pull of this film.

The film has it's faults but I'd rather stick to the film as whole; I'd rather tell you the good and you figure the bad for yourself, or maybe not. That's why.

In the end it is, in my opinion, telling you how it feels to be at war. How it must feel to not be forgiven, to see madness in the oppressor's eye and then, eventually to start relating to the look.

It left something back. Something that cannot be shed or shaken off.

In the former Yugoslavia, the French medical team formed by Carole (Zoé Félix), Samir (Arié Elmaleh) and Dr. Mathias (Eric Savin) is returning from Kosovo to Paris by truck. They find a road block and the soldier tells that the army had found mines on the road and is deactivating them; therefore they should wait three hours to follow their journey.

Dr. Mathias suggests Carole to drive through a secondary road and they get lost. They ask for direction in an isolated house and sooner a van intercepts their truck in a lonely road. They are abducted and arrested in dirty cells but fed. When Samir is removed from the cell, they find the true intention of the kidnappers.

I do not know how many movies similar to "Captifs" that I have recently seen. Only in Brazil, three different films have been released with the same Brazilian title in the last years ("Captivity" (2007); "Captifs" (2010); and "Open House" (2010)). I was discussing with a friend of mine about the lack of new ideas and screenplays in the cinema industry, reason why for so many remakes and films with the same storyline.

Back to "Captifs", despite the well-known storyline, the film has good acting, make-up and keeps the tension until the very last scene. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Cativeiro" ("The Captivity")

This is not a movie, it's a propaganda film, released in the same moment when the international war crimes tribunal is arresting the leaders of the Albanian terrorist group which is responsible for human organs trafficking. The victims are the Serbs.

Not bad. Decent plot, though fairly conventional for a horror movie, and reminiscent of Turistas. Gritty direction. Short duration, which is good.

Performances are OK.

I found this movie to be mostly alright for the most part. The story have a creepy premise with a gang who kidnap people for their organs because this happened in real life and is a frightening thing to think about. It builds up really well with introducing the characters and them getting captured and discovering what the gang is planning to do on them. Unfortunately, the middle part of the movie is definitely the weakest part. It mostly just the characters are waiting for something to happen and them getting torment by the villains in a tame way. Also, these trapped type of movie is pretty predictable, knowing that they won't easily escape from the gang. But things do pick up when the main character manages to escape. That part of the movie is suspenseful with her trying to sneak past the villains and escape with some people. The climax itself is somewhat suspenseful, but due to the runtime, it has a pretty quick ending to it.