Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020) User Reviews

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[willemsensem · 9/10 · 14 July 2021]

I went into the cinema without preparation. I hadn't seen the trailer, I didn't know anything about the real story, I just sat down and watched it. Damn, I was struck by it.

The plot is real. That makes it even more devastating. They told the story in such a brilliant way that I had a little bit of hope every time Aida had a bit of hope. I would lose that, and regain that. Of course in the end I lost it for good. Another thing they did really well is the helplessness of the Dutch soldiers. I really felt like they couldn't do anything, and that made the feeling of hope and sadness and anger and all that, so much more real.

The acting was terrific. I hadn't heard of any of the actors involved, and I actually kind fo like that. It makes it way easier to slide into the story, seeming as you don't associate the people you see with anything other than their role.

I saw this film, I was devastated about the whole situation that was portrayed, and than like most people probably it went out of my head and I didn't think about it anymore, after 4 days or so. But then, 1.5 week after seeing it, a friend posted about not forgetting about this slaughter and that most people don't know about it and everything, and BAM, the whole film popped back in my head and I thought about it again. I shared it with my friend (who is part Bosnian) and it felt like a proper ending to my connection to this film, and I'll never forget about this tragedy again.

Quo vadis, Humanity?

[Xstal · 9/10 · 22 March 2021]

... because you never learn! The despicable, diabolical and disgusting events from Srebrenica, replayed many times before, currently playing out in several countries now, and quite probably for the foreseeable future while we continue to turn a blind eye, ignore, disengage or perhaps don't care. Jasna Djuricic as Aida, immense!

Everyone should watch this!!!!

[biloskata · 9/10 · 20 March 2021]

This film is a must see! I am from Croatia and my father fought the war so I was pretty much familiar with the events depicted in the film but nevertheless I had goosbumps during couple of scenes and it definitely educated me on some things I didn't know like the fact that the UN was just useless. I think war has to be one of the most heartbreaking things to happen to a person and this film depicted it perfectly. The acting is amazing and just the overall feeling is perfectly translated. I recommend this film to anyone, escpecially those who are not familiar with the events surrounding it.

Finally a Bosnian movie that tells about the crimes in Srebrenica

[selmasbektas · 10/10 · 20 March 2021]

It was an ongoing debate in my family if we should watch the movie or not. My mother is from Srebrenica and we lost a huge part of our family and amongst them my grandpa. The wounds are still open and will be no matter how long time passes and my mother's memories are still as vivid as if it was yesterday. Having seen a few bad movies left us not wanting to se another one on that subject because directors ( particularly Jolie) tried in a way to romanticize the war even though there is NOTHING ROMANTIC about that war. A huge loss, suffering and vivid memories of near friend and family being killed and tortured is something that my mother lives with daily. So I watched the movie first and later we saw it together. And it hits you to the core. I think that Jasmila Zbanic accomplished something great by leaving out horror scenes and making us just imagine. Because no scene can ever compare with the reality of crime and horrors that happened. In a few segments of the movie we had to pause because they felt so real to my mother that she started to look for my grandpa in the scenes with people outside the UN zone hq. We highly recommend everyone to see this movie and to never forget about Srebrenica.

United Nation of WHAT???

[li0904426 · 10/10 · 23 April 2021]

We are in the middle of the 21st century and we still witness atrocities that even UN ignores.

Jasna Djuricic has a stupendous interpretation of a mother protecting her youngest from the terror of war in recent Bosnia. As a translator for the UN, she begs the authorities to save her husband and children and even the UN denied that.

A great film that not only Europe needs to know.

Great movie

[j_m_jovicic · 10/10 · 13 March 2021]

The main actress Jasna Djuricic deserves an Oscar. She gave such a great portrayal of a mother and a wife who's traying her best in the worst of situation. God forbid anyone finds themselves in that situation.

A Searing Account Of Human Injustice & International Indifference

[CinemaClown · 16 June 2021]

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the last Oscars, Quo vadis, Aida follows a UN translator's plight to save her family from imminent death in the wake of Bosnian War and also covers the events that led to the Srebrenica massacre. A powerful, heartbreaking & devastating account of human injustice & global apathy, this Bosnian war drama is one of the best films of its year.

Written & directed by Jasmila Zbanic, the drama centres around a fictional family in the middle of a real-life conflict but through their predicament, it effectively captures the utter despair & helplessness the refugees faced, not only from their persecutors but also from their supposed saviours. Zbanic lays bare the grave incompetence of United Nations whose lack of action only ended up enabling the wholesale killings.

Zbanic makes sure the family the story focuses on looks & feels as real & authentic as possible, and the drama she conjures around them is compelling throughout. It's disturbing to watch UN delegates failing to do the one thing their organisation exists for and how they simply stood aside as mere spectators after letting the fox into the henhouse. Jasna Duricic leads from the front with an outstanding performance and she is strongly supported by the rest.

Overall, Quo vadis, Aida is a brutal, harrowing & profoundly upsetting example of its genre that provides a scorching account of the lifetime of pain & trauma that warfare leaves behind and also exposes the failure & indifference of the international council that indirectly pave the way for such atrocities. Bringing the horrors of Srebrenica to screen with cut-throat intensity and leaving us shattered with its gut-punching finale, this Bosnian war film is essential viewing by all means. In a word, unforgettable!

Really powerful movie

[deepbllue · 10/10 · 12 March 2021]

I am a guy from Serbia and I gave this movie 10/10 because it has really good script and it is true work of art. I wish directors from Serbia would make more films which are as good as this one.

Amazing movie

[mdkfzvkssk · 10/10 · 2 February 2021]

This movie is about genocide in Bosnia, everybody should watch it.

It's a must-see movie.

[s-subasic · 10/10 · 2 February 2021]

I would recommend watching a movie, then visiting International Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia website, especially Srebrenica Genocide.

The war without nuances

[MiguelAReina · 7/10 · 31 January 2021]

Chronicle of the Srebrenica massacre, is a film that has no nuances, and in this sense it can be Manichean and somewhat crude. The director adopts a look full of anger that is transmitted to the screen, at the representation of the defenselessness in the face of the inability of the international community to prevent a massacre. It is a resounding film, necessary to understand the true terror of genocide, which perhaps has an epilogue that seems to want to soften an ending that leaves us petrified.

Well made but a caricature

[boudewijnkk · 3/10 · 30 July 2021]

Where the movie is a very well made document of the Srebrenica genocide, it is weakened by the caricature depiction of the two sides.

All Muslims/Bosniaks are shown as gentle, meek victims. All Serbs are shown as hard men, cruel warriors. This caricature undermines this important movie.

A powerful portrait of a historical moment.

[chong_an · 9/10 · 15 September 2020]

This is about events around the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. The UN promised that this would be a safe zone, but doesn't back up its ultimatums with action, leaving the small contingent of UN peacekeepers helpless in the face of stronger Serbian forces, who step-by-step get bolder, take over the town, and eventually the civilians seeking safety at the UN base.

I saw this as a digital screening of the Toronto International Film Festival, with writer / director Q+A. The writer put together the story based on actual transcripts, together with survivor stories. Many were composited into the main character Aida. Aida is a translator for the UN troops, and she also tries to keep safe her husband and 2 teenaged sons,. Thus she could move between the "defenders" and the defended, and tell the stories of both.

The characters are well-played and believable, and there are little touches that are illuminating: some flashbacks to pre-war life, a reference to neighbors turning against neighbors, etc. My one complaint is that, as a composite, some events seem to happen too quickly.

Beautiful, emotional

[savosaint · 10/10 · 2 February 2021]

Wonderful movie, it translates the emotions of the mother perfectly, this movie pays homage to all the woman that lost their sons, brothers, husbands and fathers in the genocide, and still stood strong in the face of pure hatred. The movie just like any others, has its limitations, shortcomings, you can't film genocide in 1.5 hours, but the movie language is amazing in this one, all my emotions had been engaged, in one movie!

I remember watching serb soldiers entering Srebrenica on film and this gives a whole perspective on their attempts to "Take revenge on the Turks" only thing it did not show is the Dutch soldiers dancing and drinking with Genocidaires while the Bosniaks were being slaughtered, that is the only minus in this one.

In my humble opinon, this is the closest thing to Schindler's list we will ever get

Devastation

[Movi3DO · 9/10 · 7 July 2021]

So horrible so horrible...

A war movie about the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. A mother, who's also an interpreter, tried to get her family to safety while the civilians were being transported by the Serbian force.

Coming in, I didn't know anything about the real life story. However, after watching about 10 to 15 minutes, it was abundantly clear what was going to happen. For the rest of the movie, it became a desperate, maddening, and heartbreaking descend into the inevitable. This was shown through the lens of our main character, and her desperation was relatable, like if you were in her shoes you would do everything she did.

The color and cinematography also heightened the desperation. The movie looked monotonous. The overwhelming color of the ground during the day felt hot, dry, and reflected the dire situation the civilians were in. Even more, the movie felt so raw, making me feel like I'm actually there with the people.

And then the ending hit. I knew it was coming, but still I was in silence as the camera slowly moved away. There's no need for showing actual violence. Just the sound was enough to convey the horror. The last scene was a strong testament of the director about the unjust event.

Overall, a devastating movie that i would not want to see again. 9/10.

The Return Gaze of a Genocide

[Cineanalyst · 8/10 · 13 April 2021]

The Bosnian entry for the Best International Feature Academy Award, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" is better than the odds-on favorite to actually win the Oscar, "Druk" (a.ka. "Another Round," 2020), being that it's actually about something that matters and is emotionally devastating--so much so that the eponymous Aida literally begs to make a Sophie's Choice at one point. The protagonists in both are teachers, and neither one ultimately affects any real change, but one is living history while the other rambles to high-schoolers about his famous favorite fellow drunkards. Both pictures are alienating: this one forcing us to witness the horrific Srebrenica massacre that we're unable to alter, and the other makes one feel like the designated driver to a bunch of binge-drinking dolts whining about their so-called mid-life crises. As opposed to waiting impatiently to drive the inebriated teachers home, however, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" does well to pull the spectator into the chaos. There's nary a dull moment in following Aida (as played rivetingly well by Jasna Duricic--seriously, Academy, you missed a nominee) around a makeshift UN refugee camp as she frantically tries to save the lives of her husband and two sons from the approaching slaughter by Ratko Mladic's Bosnian Serb Army and as the United Nations and their so-called, shorts-wearing peace keepers impotently stand by and refuse to help.

I want to note, too, that Aida being a translator, or interpreter, as the case may be (that "piano player" as "messenger" part early on, e.g.), makes for an interesting dynamic in the subtitling of the picture, among other things--much of it disregarded as unnecessary because of it. There's actually a good deal of English here beside other languages. Another good reason for the Oscar category name change from "Foreign Language Film" to "International Feature."

Additionally, amid all that, writer-director Jasmila Zbanic and company also do something reflexively interesting cinematically. While the real war is nothing more than a one-sided genocide slaughtering Bosniak Muslim males, there's another battle here for the cinematic control of the narrative. On one side, there's Mladic with the cameraman he continually tells what to shoot, and who in return reassures the would-be convicted war criminal that he'll fix his inane monotony with montage. We never see that film here, though--only its making from the outside, where its propagandistic lies are all the more apparent. And, on the other side, we have the faces of the people in the outer, film proper that is "Quo Vadis, Aida?" We see this in intermittent series of return gazes--of people looking directly, or close to, at the camera and, thus, us, the audience. They're the victims of the genocide within the narrative and, as the case may be, interpreting the real tragedy onto the screen, but through these return gazes, seize control of the narrative. This is their movie.

A powerful statement

[Come-and-Review · 10/10 · 4 September 2020]

This film was much needed on the quarter-century anniversary of the massacre of Srebrenica, one of the most bloody pages of the most recent european wars, the Jugloslavian conflicts, that happened so recently yet are unspoken of.

Zbanic's film is better described as a family drama that happens to be set during Srebrenica than a film about Srebrenica alone. Or better, it is a film that is able to portray the events of Srebrenica yet focus on the personal story of a handful of characters.

The main character, Aida, is an interpreter for the UN military unit that was sent to Srebrenica in 1995, and is determined to save his all-male family from the butchery of their invaders. Her character is the center of virtually everything that is depicted, and allows to give a wide glimpse at the most recent genocide occured on european soil. While several of the main characters are invented, they interact at various points with really existing people: Mladic, the "butcher of Bosnia", colonel Karremans of the UN military division, among others.

One element which I found relevant was how the film underlined the fact that the post-jugoslavian conflicts were a conflict between neighbours, between people who belonged to the same communities, and the epilogue depicts this in a most shocking way.

The Truth is there

[harisbesic-77446 · 10/10 · 2 February 2021]

A very well portrayed film and the truth about the genocide committed in Bosnia and Herzegowina.

Great movie!

[J_and_I · 1 November 2020]

Highly recommended. Gives a good picture of what happened in Srebrenica.

Will stay with you

[ossie85 · 7/10 · 7 April 2023]

"Quo Vadis, Aida?" is a powerful film that tells the story of the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War. The impressive framing of the story, coupled with the excellent acting and direction, make for an engaging but depressing experience.

The movie's narrative is straightforward, and it follows Aida, a translator for the United Nations, as she tries to keep her family safe from the atrocities taking place around them. The film powerfully demonstrates the impact of war, and the choices it forces people to make in order to survive, which is a stark reminder of the horrors that humanity is capable of.

The direction by Jasmila Zbanic is brilliant, with impactful visuals and perfect pacing throughout the movie, which combines to create an immersive experience. The subdued cinematography perfectly captures the film's intense emotions, and the lack of melodrama enhances the authenticity of the visuals.

The acting by the entire cast is impressive, with Jasna Duricic's portrayal of Aida being the standout performance. She brings sincerity to the emotions of the character, making Aida a relatable and likable character despite the traumatic events that unfold in front of her.

The only flaw of "Quo Vadis, Aida?" is that the heavy subject matter and the bleakness of the story can be overwhelming. However, for those who can stomach it, the movie is a worthy exploration of the effects of war and the toll it takes on individuals.

Ultimately, "Quo Vadis, Aida?" is an impactful film, well-deserving of its critical acclaim.

Awesome!!!

[ademljuca · 10/10 · 2 February 2021]

Great movie about genocide that happen in Srebrenica. 10/10.

Great tragedy

[radgavric · 4/10 · 12 February 2021]

I know about the great tragedy that has happened in Bosnia in the nineties and it should be remembered. But as a film , it its not great, so I don't understand how can it have so many 10 scores. Its not bad, just way off 10, more like 6.

Respectful and devastating cinema

[sackofwhine · 9/10 · 15 April 2021]

Films that depict a historical event are always such a tricky business. On the one hand, they can shed light on that event, and thus offer the audience education and information about events they may not have known, on the other hand, it happens again and again in film history that the events were distorted for the purpose of their own propagandistic ideology, at the expense of the individuals who experienced those events. These events are then given a dramatic narrative, which in itself (for many critics like Mr. Haneke) represents a moral dilemma. Is it allowed, or should it be allowed, to re-stage such historical tragedies at all? Even in the context of art, one should not extract moments of tension from certain real events in order to manipulate the audience into having an emotional reaction to these cinematographic elements.

I understand this criticism, but I think that such a re-enactment of historical events can work, especially if it is done from a personal, artistically tasteful, non-commercial point of view. And this is exactly what Quo Vadis, Aida? Manages to do, in my opinion. Especially the feelings of tension and fear that are so masterfully brought out by Jasmila Zbanic's staging do not feel contrived and clichéd, but thoroughly human and sensitive.

Quo Vadis, Aida? Could very easily have fallen into the category of classic Oscar bait, but the film offers us the complete opposite. Instead, we are presented with unadulterated moments of Bosnian genocide, moments of frustration and horror. Moments that remind us how cruel humanity can be. Overall, this is a war film that comes closest to the suffering of Come and See - cold, painful, inescapable. Yet always honest, emphatic towards those who suffer, and with such an unimpeachable staging elegance that is rarely seen in contemporary cinema.

Influences that I could detect based on the film language were definitely traces of Villeneuve due to the visual iconographic elements - especially the camera work and lighting design. For a european film and considering the budget, the film looks operatic and massive, yet intricate simultaneously.

It's a shame that Jasna Djuricic couldn't achieve more recognition at the various awards ceremonies, but we're already used to that. The performance will live on, and speaks for itself, it doesn't need a decorative yet ultimately unsubstantial trophy.

Best movie of this decade

[es_emina · 10/10 · 29 April 2021]

I came with zero expectations, and was absolutely mind blown by this movie. Watching it put me through every emotion imaginable. I laughed, cried, was baffeled, angered and sat on needles as I hoped for the sake of the characters in the movie.

This movie is well deserving of its Oscars nomination. Frankly, I believe it should have won. Every person should watch it, as it makes the viewer exit the theater as a slightly better person.

interpretation in desperate moments

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

As an interpreter, I took a special interest in Jasmila Zbanic's Academy Award-nominated "Quo vadis, Aida?". The protagonist is an interpreter in Srebrenica during the 1995 siege. In the process of interpreting between the townspeople and peacekeeping forces, she gains some important information.

The movie serves as a look at the horrors of that siege, but also the decisions that interpreters must make in desperate moments. My field of interpretation has never seen anything as severe as what the movie depicts. Nevertheless, it's an important focus on the sheer terror of the situation in 1990s Bosnia (although I doubt that any movie can fully show the horror of it).

Definitely see it.