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91It appears to have been made from the inside, not only of the characters but of the historical situation in which they struggle.
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88Zbanic, who lived through the Bosnian war in Sarajevo, is an unusual talent. Here, she makes us feel the hell her characters once lived through as well as the leftover, stinging pain of today.
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88Bolstered by a beautifully shaded performance by Karanovic as a woman attempting to escape the torments of her past while securing a future for her daughter, Zbanic's film begs a pretty complex question: Is a love story possible in the aftermath of torture and genocide? The answer appears to be a tentative yes, both on the levels of the film and filmmaking, but it isn't easy.
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This is a spare and plainly told story, and it is that plainness that gives it so much punch.
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80While excellent films like Danis Tanovic's Oscar-winning "No Man's Land" and Vinko Bresan's "Witnesses" have dealt with the war itself, few have dealt with the aftermath, and none with the aching power and empathy of Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams.
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75Jasmila Zbanic's poignant drama reminds us that the aftershocks of war linger for generations.
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75Mirjana Karanovic (Esma) and Luna Mijovic (Sara) give powerful performances as Zbanic imbues a simple story with a powerful commentary on the Bosnian war's devastating impact on the innocent.
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75Like its music, the film's emotions proceed from lament to screaming screed to chorus of hope.
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75A moving but flawed premiere feature.
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75The admirable feminist agenda occasionally trips up the narrative, but the film's performances keep it on track.
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75The dramatic conflicts are soapy and unsubtle, but Karanovic pours intense authority into Esma's scarred psyche.
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Grbavica is a womanly movie in the best sense: Zbanic has a deeply feminine sense of how crisis gets filtered through the domesticity of daily life.
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70The power of "Grbavica" is not the arc of its story line, but the fullness of the world Zbanic creates.
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70It is the two leading performances that make the film seem almost to reach down and embrace us.
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70Zbanic's story of an ordinary life stained by extraordinary cruelty cuts deep.
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67The war might be over, but fear and hope remain locked in a rapturous stranglehold amidst the rubble.
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60Zbanic is such an acute observer of women's lives in their intimate details, and constructs such fine scenes, that I think this might be the best film to emerge from the aftermath of the Balkan conflict.
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60Throughout Grbavica the desire to forget and the need to remember are at loggerheads. At Sara’s school the psychological wounds of the war are being handed down to her generation through the separation of heroes and nonheroes. Fathers pass their weapons down to their sons. Even as you leave a war behind, you bring it with you.
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60Grbavica is a surprisingly vibrant, at times even joyous, study of the way life goes on even after the most intolerable suffering.
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50In her brave first feature, Bosnian writer-director Jasmila Zbanic tackles the theme of war's aftermath.
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40Central performance by Mirjana Karanovic is instantly endearing. Unfortunately, film coasts on thesp's ability to evoke sympathy and leaves her stranded in this yarn that's all setup and little payoff.
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DinoD.10Honest, brave and beautiful.