In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

55% of critics liked it
(76 reviews)
44% of users liked it
(3,704 ratings)

Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, In the Land of Blood and Honey tells the story of Danijel and Ajla, two people from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Serbs, and Ajla, a Bosnian held captive in… More Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, In the Land of Blood and Honey tells the story of Danijel and Ajla, two people from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Serbs, and Ajla, a Bosnian held captive in the camp he oversees, knew each other before the war, and could have found love with each other. But as the armed conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship grows darker, their motives and connection to one another ambiguous, their allegiances uncertain. -- (C) Official Site

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Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 6 min.
Directed By: Angelina Jolie
Written By: Angelina Jolie
Genres: Drama, Romance

In Theaters: Dec 23, 2011 Wide
On DVD: Mar 27, 2012
Studio: Film District

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
It's a good movie on a great subject, even if it is well short of a great film.
Tom Long, Detroit News
The film's key twist seems a bit underdeveloped, but there's no avoiding the horror the film captures. Even in modern times, what monsters men can be.
Rafer Guzman, Newsday
It's a tough, clear-eyed look at a ghastly ethnic war, with an admirably wide perspective that affords compassion for both sides.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Although Jolie's good intentions are easy to admire, those characters are hard to believe, and the bloody narrative has an oddly bloodless effect.
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Jolie crafts a watchable, engaging drama set amid the Bosnian War, proof that she has paid attention during all of these years in front of the camera and has been able to translate that into some skill behind it.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
An ambitious if not entirely fully realized drama about the 1990s war in the former Yugoslavia.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...not incompetently made, and it suggests that Jolie might have a real shot at someday being a very good director. But it leaves us with a feeling so queasy and uncomfortable one hesitates to give it voice: Could she really think this dynamic is sexy?
Eric Melin, Scene-Stealers.com
Jolie never shies away from the horrors of war, with scene after scene of ethnic cleansing and war atrocities, but it suffers from an emotionally distant script and some weird editing that make the film's languid pace even more noticeable.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Jolie wants to tell a tragic love story amid the ruins, between a Serb and a Muslim, but she can never get a bead on who these two people are or how they feel about each other.
Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net
In the Land of Blood and Honey is a relentless, disturbing chronicle of cruelty. It is bleak and brutal. Angelina Jolie is showing this could be -- and still is -- happening in other parts of the world.
Leah Rozen, The Wrap
Overall, Jolie has nothing to be embarrassed about and much of which to be proud with this movie. Even in moments where the film doesn't quite work, she shows ample evidence of ambition and a discerning director's eye.
Victoria Alexander, FilmsInReview.com
A brilliant debut written and directed by Jolie. She has an artist's eye, strong personal vision, and a masterful command of her stars.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Jolie, however, shows great promise as a visual storyteller, even though this love story is stretched too thinly.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
[T]hough it is written and directed by actress Angelina Jolie... there is nothing 'Hollywood' about this film: it stars local actors and is in the local languages, and it shies not one whit from the horrors of the war.
Rob Beames, Daily Telegraph
Never less than competent, it's clearly the result of a sincere, long-harboured desire to raise awareness of these horrific, dehumanising events.
Andrew Pulver, Guardian [UK]
Jolie's grasp of the material is confident enough to mean that her film never slows down, or loses its way.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
This is an often impressive first feature and clearly a sincere and hard-hitting exposure of a terrible time.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
With its broad strokes, this invitation to an important discussion is hard to ignore, but the blood and honey on the table is an unpalatable mix.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Sincere and ambitious yet inadequate...
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Jolie has a number of things on her side here, including a superb cast that is mostly unknown to western viewers -- always a boon to the willing suspension of disbelief.

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cynthia S

Here is another fine example of "what the heck were the nay-sayers watching?" This movie was VERY well done. I think Angelina Jolie deserves mega praise for this story. She is a beautiful and fine actress, but this story shows a great empathy for her fellow man, and a… More
Here is another fine example of "what the heck were the nay-sayers watching?" This movie was VERY well done. I think Angelina Jolie deserves mega praise for this story. She is a beautiful and fine actress, but this story shows a great empathy for her fellow man, and a fine-toned intellect, too. It shows the absolute horror of war, and the devastation to human life caught in the middle. No happily ever after ending here, folks....I personally would be very interested in seeing what else Angelina comes up with. She apparently has many talents...
Michael S

Everything about this film feels false and inept, even though there is a certain admirable technical proficiency on display. The actors are strong and Jolie certainly has potential behind the lens, but the film is kind of a mess and doesn't do it's subject matter, cast, or… More
Everything about this film feels false and inept, even though there is a certain admirable technical proficiency on display. The actors are strong and Jolie certainly has potential behind the lens, but the film is kind of a mess and doesn't do it's subject matter, cast, or crew justice. A thematic misfire sure, but a well made one.
Carlos M

It is admirable the dedication of Angeline Jolie to something she believes in so devotedly, which led her to make this biased statement on the Bosnian War. Even though her movie is well directed and produces a strong impact, the characters are poorly developed and remain a puzzle… More
It is admirable the dedication of Angeline Jolie to something she believes in so devotedly, which led her to make this biased statement on the Bosnian War. Even though her movie is well directed and produces a strong impact, the characters are poorly developed and remain a puzzle until the very end.
Markus R

The Bosnian War: A Love Story? Before I begin, I would like to preface this review by saying that I am in no way an expert on the Bosnian War. So, before I receive any hate mail from angry Bosnian's or Serbian's about how I am just a stupid American who is criticizing… More
The Bosnian War: A Love Story? Before I begin, I would like to preface this review by saying that I am in no way an expert on the Bosnian War. So, before I receive any hate mail from angry Bosnian's or Serbian's about how I am just a stupid American who is criticizing events that I didn't live through, please realize that I am not criticizing Bosnian's or Serbians or war tactics or cultural differences. My job is to criticize FILMS!!! Angelina Jolie hates Serbians, there I said it! I am joking of course, she loves all races. Angelina Jolie (Salt) receives her first writing and feature film directing credits here in "In the Land of Blood and Honey"; a film that is surprisingly almost entirely in Serbian and Bosnian. There has been some controversy (at least there was for a few months) about this actually being an idea Jolie stole and called her own. But after all is said and done, whether or not she came up with the original idea will be the least controversial aspect to arise from this film. Starring Zana Marjanovic and Goran Kostic, it is not the acting which drags this film down, it is the storyline Jolie chooses to focus on instead of a straight forward war story. Chronicling the systematic encampment, rape and slaughter of the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) ethnic group during the Bosnian War sounds like some very compelling and powerful material, and "In the Land of Blood and Honey" would have been compelling and powerful, if that was what the movie was about. Instead we get a love story, set in the Bosian War between a high ranking male Bosnian Serb soldier (Kostic) named Danijel and his female Bosniak prisoner (Marjanovic) named Ajla, and a very unsatisfying love story at that. In fact the few instances when the story turns its focus from Ajla to her sister, who has not been captured and is attempting to build a resistance against the Serbs, the film becomes far more interesting and gritty. So much so, that an argument could be made about how Ajla's sister would have made a more realistic and compelling focus for this full length feature film than Ajla herself. Furthermore, without Ajla's sister's subplot, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a war film that only lightly dabbles in the brutality of war for less than a third of the movie and then it's back to the flimsy love story. In the end, Jolie attempts to address the political, brutal and cultural elements that make war so complex, but spends far, far, far too much time telling the remedial Romeo and Juliet love story between Danijel and Ajla. I am not against love stories by any means, but to have an average love story set during a fairly recent war, where genocide, rape, and political cover-ups took place, the love story aspect tends to take away (or dumb down) every other important point the film is attempting to make. This is kind of like having a hardcore love story in "Schindler's List". It just doesn't work. What will undoubtedly anger mass audiences the most: Because of the way Jolie structures her film, the tone inevitably does come off as one sided in the same way the aforementioned "Schindler's List" does. Which in and of itself isn't bad, i.e. Nazi's are horrible people. But because "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is a far less developed film, the "all Serbian's (except for one) are inherently ruthless and cruel" mentality this film encourages, comes off as unnaturally skewed especially to those (like me) who are unfamiliar with the in-depth events of the Bosnian War. Now I am not saying that the Serbs in this film, who are shown ethnically cleansing a mass group of Muslims, were not horrible people, BUT the way this movie presents an entire race (The Serbs) as irrational and blood-thirsty, could be perceived as quite one sided. And for that reason, I can see many audiences finding this the most off-putting aspect of "In the Land of Blood and Honey". But then again, I am not a critic of wars. Final Thought: I will give Jolie some credit here for manufacturing some brilliant shots (mostly the war scenes) that work to show her talent behind a camera. But much as Jolie tries, it seems as if she knows more about the logistics of a love story than about creating a compelling war film. Not to say that "In the Land of Blood and Honey" isn't a watchable effort, and does minimally redeem itself in the final two scenes of the film, BUT how this film was nominated for a Golden Globe only proves that the Hollywood Foreign Press will do anything to hang out with big stars. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus
Panta O

This American romantic war drama was written and directed by Angelina Jolie... and all I have to say is: I wish she could stick to acting! She obviously didn't know too much of the subject and the culture of the region she made a movie about! Actors were using English and it was… More
This American romantic war drama was written and directed by Angelina Jolie... and all I have to say is: I wish she could stick to acting! She obviously didn't know too much of the subject and the culture of the region she made a movie about! Actors were using English and it was awkward watching them struggle with the lines which were written by someone who has no clue how to interact between different groups in Bosnia. Even the stars Zana Marjanović, Goran Kostić were out of their place and the only one who could handle this was the veteran of the Balkan film Rade Serbedzija. The story is set in Sarajevo against the back drop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s and tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostić), a soldier fighting for the Bosnian Serbs, and Ajla (Zana Marjanović), a Bosnian Muslim woman he was involved with before the war, and who is now a captive in the camp he oversees. Danijel is serving under his father, a Bosnian Serb army general, when he comes face to face with Ajla again, who is among a group of women forced to be sex slaves for the Serb soldiers... By the way, if you can imagine ANY war crime committed in ANY country by ANY army on this planet - Angelina managed to show us as a part of the Serbian War Menu! No actual historical support except hatred towards a nation on such a level that most of people watching this will conclude that Serbs must be monsters and Muslim population (or Bosnians as they called these days) have angels between them only. And somehow everyone forgets who actually profited from this war! Serbs... NO... Muslims... NO... Croatians... NO... it is a small group of reach people who were selling weapons, taking factories for few dollars from "provisional" governments on the Balkans... and after that invested them in movies like this - to make them feel good. Angelina is just a piece in a game with not much brain, that's all, and she did play her role well! Of course, Jolie explained the reason she wrote and directed the film was to rekindle attention for the survivors of a war that took place in recent history... In an interview she said she felt a responsibility to learn about the conflict in great detail, adding, "This was, you know, the worst genocide since World War II in Europe ... What were we all doing? And did we do enough? And why do we not speak about this enough?" Speak, Angelina, but check those facts again! Who made money out of it and why the war started! You'll be surprised by the answers... by the way the premiere after-party of this film was co-sponsored by the US foreign policy think tank Council on Foreign Relations (of which Angelina Jolie is a member) - I think I said enough! One of the critics described this movie as "a United Nations extra-credit project about the Bosnian War" and criticized Jolie for "producing a sanctimonious vanity commercial for her own good intentions". Not sure about the "good" part though in the last sentence... she made something she wanted - and it was bad and filled up with unfulfilled aspirations and stereotypes which are dragging for over two hours. Stay away if possible!
Joseph E

Historical Drama, War, Romance Directorial Debut-Angelina Jolie In the land of Blood and Honey is a meticulously, and seriously affecting , hand-crafted fictionalized historical war drama that is both intriguing and questioning. A movie that is at times hard to take in, but also at… More
Historical Drama, War, Romance Directorial Debut-Angelina Jolie In the land of Blood and Honey is a meticulously, and seriously affecting , hand-crafted fictionalized historical war drama that is both intriguing and questioning. A movie that is at times hard to take in, but also at times hard to look away from. A movie that is so historicaly accurate, and it is unquestionably realilistic that you suspect that Jolie wanted us to feel every ounce of pain, and every once of heartache that was felt and it dares you not go home without a sense of emotional empathy. Jolie didn't just direct this head turning and lip biting movie but she also partly produced it and also wrote it. Factoring in the low budget, and the low key, local actors that were obviously deeply committed to the film, and you wonder if this movie could of been any easier to make. I really believe this was an admirable attempt at making a hard to swallow movie on a(n) emotional, and such a grief strickining subject. As I watched the film I often felt many things. I felt sadness, regret, a deep sense of hate and loathing, and even a mix of anger. 'In the Land of Blood and Honey'is truely compelling, but it is at times jaw dropping and sickingly raw. When any group of people find ways to make excuses for racism, and genocide it is ludicrous. 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' might have fell short of greatness because even though it is hair raising real, and acted with such profound compassion, it leaves many things on the table. I understood the romance and felt for the pain of two people from different backgrounds. It wasn't quite answered though what they were really feeling about each other though and the film continued without letting the audience know anymore about it. As far as this being Jolie's directorial debut, it felt as if Jolie wrote things down and took notes. I thought I was watching a film that was filmed,cut and edited with such precison that I could of easily thought that 'Danny Boyle' directed it. Limited movies, or low budget movies aren't always bad, some might not have enough backing because of the subject matter and I fell as if 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' didn't have enough supporters because of the setting, and becuase of such a touchy plot. Being not just a(n) Angelina Jolie fan, but a connoisseur of historical films, and stories of tragedy and war, I was more then willing to watch it. This one had a troubled romance added(Dark Blue world 90% had one that caused a rift in a father/son like relationship between two men) Even though the romance is hard to understand,the rest of the movie is understood, and easy to follow. While most people are willing to write of movies(like a girl I know who hated wrestling/boxing movies, but changed her mind with Cinerella Man, and The Fighter,although like me, though the Wrestler 60% was overrated.) I constantly find low budget dramas, movies like Frost/Nixon 90%,Changeling 100%, A Mighty Heart 100%(Ironicly enough the last two starred Jolie), are sometimes better then bigger budget pictures such as The Dark Knight(50%) or even Red Tails(80%)which cost about 250 million to make. 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' has very graphic footage, heartbreaking scenes that disgust, intrigue, and make you think, but more importantly inform you. "In the land of Blood and Honey' is a film tah shouldn't be viewed by anyone under 17 although if parents accompany or allow children under 17 to watch it is a(n) important film that not only recreates, but demonstrates the harsh reality of hatrid, and genocide, along with the struggles of a romance between two people from different backgrounds. the movie shouldn't be criticzed for what it get's wrong because it is very little. It should however be praised and lauded for what it gets right. It accomplishes so much and with a commited cast and crew 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' is a tense, heartwrenching, and utterly shocking drama that is as emotionaly compelling, and all too realilistic for comfort. 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' is a special film that shouldn't just be written off. It is not quite a great film, but it is very good. For a film like this, very good, is almost as good as great. That is a compliment!
Christopher H

An extraordinary and unusual love story set to the backdrop of war. Though Angelina Jolie definitely shows signs of a first time director, the film still comes from the heart and lures you in with a passion that sets it apart from its kindred.
Matt S

Decent enough film for Angelina Jolie's directorial debut. While the subject matter was distressing (it's based on historical events), I don't think it generated enough emotion to really make me feel one way or the other.
Daisy M

I just saw the Angelina Jolie's film, In the Land of Blood and Honey, and I must say, I liked it. The film was at times hard to watch because the scenes were intense and very realistic. I heard a lot about this film before I saw it, and it was even nominated in the category best… More
I just saw the Angelina Jolie's film, In the Land of Blood and Honey, and I must say, I liked it. The film was at times hard to watch because the scenes were intense and very realistic. I heard a lot about this film before I saw it, and it was even nominated in the category best foreign film for Golden Globes, and to tell the truth I was afraid that it would be a disaster, but it was not, it was a film that showed the horrors of war and a lot of rapes and crimes for Muslim people in Bosnia. Many people had heard about those things, you knew it was true, but your brain could not picture it. Angelina Jolie showed two hours of brutal pictures and painful scenes for the viewer. People might criticize her film for being one side story, but the fact remained that these horrors shown in the film took place in Yugoslavia and the whole world knew. The love story was made up, but it gave a different taste which I liked. To see how they were torn apart and how they were dealing with the relationship after they were forced into opposite sides. Not bad at all.