Very disappointing...

Awesome Movie

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I first watched this when it aired on UK TV in the late 90s. Luckily I videoed it and have watched it many times since.While I totally agree with what other reviewers have said about omitting the complex events leading up to the war at the risk of offensively over-simplifying a complex and impassioned tinder box, we must also appreciate that a movie simply cannot be all things to all people. So while a movie about the historical and political backdrop to the war would be a very worthy undertaking, that would have to be a separate movie to this. Trying to shoe-horn all of that into this story would've been a disaster and I doubt it would ever have made it to the screen. Besides, you should never go to the movies expecting a history lesson. Even when they try to shoot a faithful real-life account, by the end of the too-many-cooks process, it ends up at best 50% accurate. That's just the nature of the beast and it's naive to expect any different.So, misplaced accuracy-based judgements aside, we have here the simple story of 2 friends whose ethnic backgrounds lands them on opposing sides of a war. The very thing that cemented their friendship - their skill as target shooters - becomes a curse as they find themselves inevitably recruited as snipers on the front lines. Justification for the war and personal well-being wrestles with loyalty to old friends.I found the interaction between the 2 central characters very touching and credible. It sets the scene nicely for the nightmare scenario they're confronted with later in the story.The zeitgeist conjured up both pre and post conflict work very well for me, though of course I cannot comment on how accurate a reflection of reality this is - it just comes pretty close to what I imagine and what footage I saw of Yugoslavia during this time.They did a good job of depicting civilian normality suddenly violated by some sacrilegious military intrusion, whether it be an exploding shell in the night or a sniper's round to an old lady fetching water. As well as illustrating the insidious and deliberate intent to terrorise innocent civilians in order to break the will of their leaders, I think this sudden and violent change in mood is as much as you can do to describe the start of a conflict like that on screen.Linus Roache and Vincent Perez were great in the lead roles, along with strong support from the doctor, wives, and girlfriend. The locations were extremely well-picked out. I appreciate some of it was actually shot in Sarajevo - a bold move only 5 years after the events depicted.I guess my sole criticism would be the apparent ease with which Slavko seemed to transform from warm-hearted friend of the family into a cold killing machine. It just seemed a little devoid of soul-searching or intense emotions I'd expect to see a man go through faced with that kind of dilemma. That said, I've never been in that situation so perhaps I am naive - perhaps that's roughly what would happen in a situation like that where the only way one could proceed is to over-compensate and brutally reject what came before. So the jury's out on that one.Other than that nit-picking, I thought this very sensitive subject was handled with the appropriate amount of respect while still telling the gripping dramatic story at its core. Furthermore, it manages to make some very striking points about what's so unacceptably wrong about warfare inflicted upon a civilian population, whatever the perceived justification may be.The central story is an unusual and intriguing one in its own right which is justification enough to bring this to the screen. Transcending that though, I think this film helped shock a largely ignorant UK audience into re-educating themselves a little more about a conflict they never really understood in the first place.

There was a civil war in the US 150 years ago,no one truly remembers it.There is the terror of sniper combat so well displayed in the film"Enemy at the gates"that was reviewed on my blog,but it was uniformed soldiers.We begin to understand sectarian violence from Iraq and Afghanistan BUT in a white European country,in our own lifetime,before 9/11 changed our focus on everything?No I doubt anyone truly understood it or does to this day,but since WW11 the first war crimes trials were held because of it. The country of Yugoslavia,was a patch work of forced uniting of diverse Balkan peoples of different ethic and religious backgrounds that fell apart when the strongman holding it together,Marshal Tito,died. Its capital city was Sarajevo,home to a Winter Olympics Game in the recent past,and a shinning example to the world that a different sort of new kind of capitalism/socialism,much like what China IS succeeding with today,could work in Europe. Tito's death changed everything to again remind us all that old hate and grudges lie just below the surface and rise like puss from a wound and fester to infect and kill us all. This film doesn't shed much new light how that came to pass in what was Yugoslavia,but it does focus a narrow light on what people living a very similar life as we in the US live,can fall into when "wounds"are not treated and how fragile our life styles really can be. In a sense this is very personnel human horror story without zombies.HBO films made another film worthy of all our attention to understand what modern war in cities and sectarian violence can be right here if we are not smart and allow ourselves to let the mess our country is in continue.The families and people in this film are like us.Middle class,educated and see their lifes decent into a living and in many cases dying hell. Congress and the President should see this picture ,as a teachable moment,before they forget how fractured our own country has truly become.Like most docudramas the story is a copulation of many events to give a picture of a event that is not rational but that did happen.

This is an actual story about two friends. one Albanian Muslim , the other Christian Serb. They both were born and grew up in Yugoslavia(Bosnia Herzegovina now). They were friends since childhood. When they become young men, both gained perfection in 5the art of shooting as a sport. both had common dream , to represent their country into Olympics. vlado saleemovic had wife and daughter while slavko stanovic had a fiancée only. then events began to unfold.a civil war commenced.Yugoslavia began to disintegrate.New states Slovenia and Croatia emerged as independent nations.Bosnia decided to join ranks with them. This wasn't acceptable for the Serb community coz it would separate their national heritage with original Serbia but the Croats and Muslims wanted it. slavko being a Serb entered into the military service for his Serb army. He became a sniper, he began to hunt down the Croats and Muslim civilians, coz he believed they had done a great betrayal to the motherland which was liberated with great sacrifice from the clutches of Nazi Germany. slavko s own family was shattered and devastated in the ww 2. vlado s nation now is extreme desperate situation. They are being slaughtered and butchered like cockroaches, they are placed in Serb concentration camps with far more than any pathetic conditions and they are besieged in their own capital city Sarajevo by Serb snipers and gunners. now vlado holds his gun to defend his own community. Both friends are now war adversaries but one fear lurks in both their hearts , nobody wants to square off against each other, because of their old time sake , they both offered each other 1st ticket out of that war zone. One night in the middle of that brutal war they finally met each other after a long time.When vlado was coming to his home slavko fired at him but missed intentionally and deliberately. Then he embraced vlado and made him entered inside his house, it looked to me there is no any rivalry of war among them but instead they are like blood brothers regardless of what s going on in their surroundings. That was also the night of Barcelona Olympics closing ceremony. Slavko here said , so we finally made it to the Olympics. Vlado asked why didn't slavko shot him , slavko replied why didn't u shot me at that day , (vlado also had an encounter with slavko but he spared his life and slavko knew it). Slavko told his buddy why he is doing it , its not good to kill his own people but what they had done can also not be accepted and forgiven. Both men embraced each other , said good bye perhaps for the last time as friends. Next morning comes the most toughest moment of the movie ,the real event. Slavko put his military uniform and went outside on his sniper rampage. there he saw valdo aiming at him with a distance. Both men looked at each other. Now its there eyes only which are speaking to each other. Watching into each other s eyes they are now communicating to each other. Vlado was saying ,infact pleading,,' plz don't go , stop it , for god sake, for old times, otherwise i will have no choice but to kill u'. slavko replied', u want to kill me , go ahead do it, u do what u think is right , u entitled to it, but i ll also do what i believe in. I cant stop u from doing your job but u cant also stop me from doing my duty. Then vlado pulled the trigger and shot slavko to death. After killing him he broke down into tears this was the most painful agonizing moment in his life, killing the man who was most dearest to him outside his kith and kin. In my opinion this war did so much damage to a land but inspite of it wasn't capable of devastating the love friendship and affection of two friends who later become enemies but their regard and care each other still triumphed over hate and prejudice , when u see the final parts of the movie. This movie is based on a shattering true events (what i learned), i think most people should see it , it can teach you good meanings of this life. both actors made a very good job and worked together by sinking deep into their characters to make this story heart touching.

This film made a tremendous impact on me. I am stunned, overwhelmed and profoundly moved. Watching this remarkable photoplay, my emotion is intense. It immediately reminded me of a nonfiction book I had read about the war in Bosnia, it feels like all the things described in that book come to life. It's shocking.All the events depicted in this movie ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Children getting killed by pieces of shrapnel, friends being on opposite sides and their friendships being torn apart by the war, losing your family, friends, neighbors, attending one and yet another funeral of someone you knew, people being shot while they carry water...my heart broke when I watched these cruel facts portrayed in this impassioned work. It is so true to life that I felt as if I was there, witnessing the whole thing.Based upon a true story, "Shot Through the Heart" is about a life long friendship between two marksmen who are residents in Sarajevo. When the war breaks out, Vlado, a Muslim, and Slavko, a Serb, are on opposite sides and eventually, they will have to face each other. People in Sarajevo used to live peaceful and carefree lives, now their lives become tragedies all because of this hideous war.History, the sense of retaliation and false beliefs make human beings turn into killing machines. War is destruction and agony. If only we could realize it and remember the lessons we've learned. If only we could reach world peace sooner.This war drama is finely filmed, and the acting is very believable. The movie helps us understand more about the ex-Yugoslavia war that took place in the early nineties and makes us think about it, how wars affect people and the importance of making peace. I heartily recommend this film to anybody who is interested in what happened in Sarajevo.