The Border Post

If this was filmed elsewhere, I would say that the film is overexposed and the plot is forcibly attractive. But this is the Balkans, on the hot border between Yugoslav Kosovo and Albania, where tensions dangerously simmered from a national perspective at the end of the 80s, and a small border unit of the Yugoslav army lived in psychosis, with 16 thousand Albanian soldiers standing on the other side of the border, backed by a hundred-thousand-strong Albanian minority longing for a greater Albania. The commander seems to have escaped from shepherding sheep in the mountains and found himself in the remotest area, where foxes say goodnight and there are twice as many sheep as in his homeland. His young wife is hopelessly bored in this backwater and is willing to accept any distraction in the form of an attractive young doctor who serves as her husband's subordinate. The quartet is complemented by a confident hotshot and a comedian in one, who could be the life of any party, but as dangerous posers, these types of guys are always ready for some bullying or provocation. The combination of these four types of personalities does not lead to any sort of farce but irresistibly leads to a major dramatic conflict. We are in Yugoslavia, where southern temperament combines with more than one cruel tradition, and death is not enough when the enemy needs to be properly tortured first. The basic script structure seemed solid to me and everyone involved acted perfectly. Yugoslav cinema combines Czech directing craftsmanship with Southern temperament. Overall impression: 80%. (05/28/2010)