An engaging if somewhat inchoate drama set in the early years of Aids.
Witnesses (2003)
Rated: 15
Runtime: 88 mins
Theatrical Release: 19-10-2007
Synopsis: A man is murdered when three soldiers unexpectedly find him at home while they are planting a hate bomb. After blowing up his house, the young men discover someone has witnessed everything. With the witness locked in a basement garage, the youngest of the panicky soldiers runs to his... A man is murdered when three soldiers unexpectedly find him at home while they are planting a hate bomb. After blowing up his house, the young men discover someone has witnessed everything. With the witness locked in a basement garage, the youngest of the panicky soldiers runs to his mother for help. Mourning over her husband's coffin, she promises to protect the three friends. With the support of their shady politician uncle, they'll be safe as long as no one talks. The Police Investigation takes over the small town in Croatia on the front line of the civil war. Half the town wanted the man dead, especially since his origins lie on the other side. Everyone has his or her personal interests a heart while the fate of the witness is left hanging: an honest policeman must back off on his investigation to try and save his dying wife. A journalist could become too personally involved in her search for a story. A soldier -- someone's son, someone's boyfriend -- will return home from the front with terrible secrets. Sometimes a story must be relived through various viewpoints before the truth can be revealed. -- © Film Movement [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Mirjana Karanovic
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 11, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
Additional Release Materials:
Bonus Track:
- 1. Little Terrorist
Reviews
Bristling with emotional intensity, this is far superior to earlier AIDS-related dramas.
A lively, timely flashback to the early days of AIDS with this character-driven drama.
The occasional voiceover from Béart and a slightly mournful score from Philippe Sarde offer some sense of lament, but mostly this unfolds in the moment and is urgent and engaging.
Techine never lapses into morbid sentimentality and it's interesting for a film to put the horror of AIDs in the 1980s in the perspective of a viewpoint 20-odd years on.
Téchiné captures the changing attitudes of the times but some characters feel too peripheral.
Spanning a year beginning in the summer of 1984, The Witnesses offers the considerable satisfaction of a beautifully acted ensemble piece built on the foundation of a serious subject%u2014the dawn of the AIDS crisis%u2014handled just so.
Witnesses takes us back to the turmoil in the Balkans. But the movie is not directly about the war. It's a cleverly told murder mystery.
More than a thriller, the film is a portrait of the passions that drive ordinary people to kill and even worse, to accept the killing as something honorable.
Bresan captures the atmosphere of the Croatian war effectively and offers an insider's view about the complex situation.


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