Vukovar

While a war raged between the Serbs and Croatians in Yugoslavia during the early '90's, filmmaker Boro Draskovic went into the streets and shot Vukovar, a deeply moving and disturbing picture about the devastating effects of war on even the closest of lovers. When a Serb/Croat newlywed couple (Mirjana Jokovic and Boris Isakovic) are separated by their ethnicities in war-ravaged Vukovar, they learn to hate the ones they've loved most. Without a hint of sentimentality or self-pity, Vukovar shows the burned-out buildings, raped women, and rotted corpses, painting a brutal and relentless portrait of escalating violence, each atrocity feeding the next. Perhaps most compelling, though, is the way Draskovic's characters devolve, with each blow, from human into beast. Positively gutwrenching. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (L. Russo)