In the Name of the Son (2007) User Reviews

Yes 25 minutes can be more powerful than two hours

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 3 June 2016]

But these 25 minutes need especially good acting and writing in this case and I cannot say I found the story too interesting or memorable. Maybe it would have worked better at 10 minutes if it had been completely essential. "In the Name of the Son" is a short film from writer and director Harun Mehmedinovic and surprisingly, looking at all the awards this won, he has not made a new film since the 10 years since this was made. The two actors are fairly solid, not bad, but not great either. The war references are okay too, but something is missing to make this film really work in my opinion. It is tough to put a finger on what it exactly is, but I cannot say I cared a whole lot for the characters. As a whole, I give this one a thumbs down. Not recommended. If you still want to see it, make sure you have subtitles, unless you are fluent in both English and Bosnian.

Can 25 be more powerful then 2 hrs movie ...

[ofratko · 5 March 2012]

In this case absolutely YES! Harun Mehmedinovic the director of the movie said:"In this case, I thought of a basic setup for the story early on, the idea of a father killing his son, because of another fascination of mine, which is the loss of individuality in war. I think most people are capable of being indoctrinated into an ideology so much that we forget that we are human beings, and only to realize, after the fact, what we have done. Even though the idea of a father killing his son is hard to stomach for most people, you can't deny that it happens during the war (and sometimes during peace). It happened in Bosnia, it happens in the Middle East, it happened during the American Civil War, it's been happening since the beginning of time. Humans are complicated beings. We often do things we can't imagine we're capable of doing, good and bad, when we are put in a certain position. I wanted to deal with this subject in a way where there is some hope left at the end, and it's not all as grim as it seems." This is not black and white war story. It is gray all the way thought. It will make you think about guilt, survival and war for a very long time