“Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams” [dvd; 2006] The film begins with the camera showing faces in a group of women listening to one of them tell her story of the Bosnian war. The legacy of war is the theme of this movie and at its heart is Esma and her teenage daughter, Sara. Their relationship contends with all the usual tensions that beset a teenager and a single mother, but there is a further complication. Sara believes her father is a “shahid,” a war hero who died defending Sarajevo, but in fact, Esma became pregnant in a Chetnik rape camp. Mirjana Karanovic as Esma and Luna Mijovic as Sara are spellbinding as they struggle to hold on to the love that connects them. In a time when the necessity for historical truth defies hopes of reconciliation with heartbreaking frequency, this film reveals the dilemma at an excruciatingly intimate level.
[Gem rating: fire agate]
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