Movie Review: In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

I wasn't sure what to expect with "In the Land of Blood and Honey" but what I found was a complex love story set during the Bosnian War.  Before the war, Danijel and Ajla were dating (not married as some of the descriptions of the movie state) but once the war starts the lovers become enemies.  Danijel is an officer for the Serbs while Ajla is a Muslim so she is now part of the race the Serbs want to "cleanse."  The pair meet again as Ajla is part of a group of women forced to become slaves for the Serb army at a base where Danijel is stationed.  He claims her as his "property" meaning she is his personal sex slave in order to "protect" her from being raped by the other men.  Throughout the war there is a complex relationship between the two that begs the question: can enemies be lovers?
This is the directorial debut for Angelina Jolie, who also wrote the script, and I think she did a good job of directing and cinematography.  The dialoge was a bit stiff at times but the movie had a decent flow.  As I am not well-versed in the history and politics of the Bosnian War, I had to take the film as a historical fiction and not as a documentary or something educational/informative.  The acting is good but sometimes the accents are a bit difficult to understand.

I found the relationship among the main characters to be fascinating.  Before the war they were dating and clearly have chemistry.  At that point they are free to love each other and have equal power.  Once the war begins however everything changes and now they cannot be a couple but rather it is acceptable for Ajla to be Danijel's sex slave.   Though he behaves in a way that can be interpreted that he cares for Ajla (protecting her, showing her a way to escape), due to her lack of power the audience and Danijel himself cannot be certain of how she feels towards him.  Danijel wonders out loud if she would kill him and the ending seems to point to an answer though my interpretation is that Ajla has mixed feelings towards him. 

There are difficult scenes in this film due to the setting of war (rape, killing) which might be unsettling.  Overall I think it's a B+ for a decent story of a complex relationship, good acting, and nice direction/cinematography.