DARA OF JASENOVAC -- A Brutal and Moving Holocaust Film

2/2/2021

Review by Camden Ferrell

Dara of Jasenovac is Serbia’s official submission for the Best International Film category at this year’s Academy Awards. This movie comes from veteran director Predrag Antonijevic. Covering an often overlooked and horrific aspect of the Holocaust era, this movie succeeds in telling the story of a young girl’s perseverance through tragedy.

In the 1940’s, Dara is a young girl who experiences the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand when her family is taken to a concentration camp. This camp is not run by Germans, but it is run by the Ustase, a fascist Croatian group. Dara must protect her infant brother from the horrors that surround her, and she must find the courage and strength to endure a series of unspeakable tragedies.

The film works significantly because it tells a story that doesn’t get told very often. Many Holocaust films concern Nazi concentration camps, and there aren’t many that cover the other inhumane camps that were run elsewhere. It’s a really fascinating premise that is very educational especially to those not familiar with Eastern Europe in this era.

The film is led by a young but remarkably talented Biljana Cekic. The subject matter is extremely intense, but she handles it miraculously. It’s impressive to see her slowly portray the mental exhaustion and anguish of her character with such power. The other highlight of this film is Zlatan Vidovic who plays Dara’s father in a separate subplot. He also does a great job of presenting the pain and longing that many people suffered during this time when they were separated from their families.

Antonijevic’s direction is very confident and refined. He executes his scenes well, and he usually maintains a steady pace. The film can feel a little slow in certain sections, but this compensated by some truly horrific yet well done sequences.

The script, written by Natasa Drakulic, is rather reserved. Dialogue isn’t too prevalent, but this works in the film’s favor. It seems as if the script prefers to revel in speechless horror that aims to transcend the screen. While the writing is strong, there are moments that don’t flow very well and can sometimes drag certain scenes and moments down.

Despite its few flaws, this film is a brutal watch. It features many gut-wrenching and tragic moments that highlight how horrific these camps truly were. This violence and inhumanity is not gratuitous as its integral in telling this story and portraying this part of history that is often overlooked.

Dara of Jasenovac is a great Holocaust movie with strong themes and great performances. It has some amazing and disturbing sequences that really elevate it. Despite its occasionally sluggish pace, it is a film worth checking out this February.

Dara of Jasenovac is in select theaters February 5.

Rating: 4/5

11 Comments

Larry Cherney link

2/3/2021 03:38:27 pm

Will go as well in Zagreb as "Behind Enemy Lines" did in Belgrade.

Ivan

2/8/2021 04:59:12 am

Funny how you mention "Behind Enemy Lines": that film borrowed a scene from "Savior" (1998) where Ustashe were also shown committing a heinous mass murder, but cut it up so as to fit its the "Serbs bad" narrative. Incidentally, "Savior" was also directed by Peter Antonijević, just like "Dara of Jasenovac".

Gordana Mladenovic

2/7/2021 03:53:17 pm

Unfortunately this real and very sad, sad story was not allowed to be seen in the time of Tito’s regime. The reason : “Brotherhood and Equality, by that regime, spreading the lies that the talk about this atrocity would “Insult the main perpetrators Ustase Group (from republic of Croatia as part of Yugoslavia, but now is independent country.
Our generation (1950) did not know anything about this Croatian Concentration Camp, which the only purpose for existence was to exterminate the Serbian kids and their parents living in Croatia. I know it is hard to watch this movie, but, watch it with the hope it never happens again .

Milovan Ilic

2/20/2021 06:27:37 pm

That's a patent lie. Since the memorial park was established in 1960 each and every year until 1990, 3rd grade high school excursions included visiting Jasenovac memorial complex. That means that you have visited it in 1966 or 1967. My father was there in 1964, my mother in 1976. It was part of their history curriculum and mine too in the '90s, both for the 8th grade of elementary school and 3rd grade high school. Stop inventing communist suppression because you were an F grade student.

Ane

2/8/2021 04:19:46 pm

- Do you know that Serbia not want proposal to independent experts from all over the world, even from Serbia are investigate Jasenovac? It is easier to manipulate like this over media.
- Do you know that Serbia denies Srebrenica, and celebrates theirs war criminals from 1991-1995, like Ratko Mladic? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-bUxkmjBQY
- Do You know who is financed this movie? President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic. Do you know who he was in 1991? He personally participated in the aggression against Croatia in 1991-1995. He walked around occupied Croatia and held rallies for Serbs that a third of Croatia would belong to Serbia.
- Do you know that Serbian Nazi fascists worked closely with German Nazi officials in making Belgrade the first ‘Judenfrei’ city of Europe by mid-1942. Serbian leader Milan Nedic made an official visit to Adolf Hitler on 19 September 1943, advancing the idea that Serbia is no place for Jews and thanking ‘Führer’ for his decision to exterminate Jewish people in Europe. And they did – between 90 and 94% of Serbia’s Jews were exterminated in various concentration camps across Serbia.
- Do you know, A week ago the envoy of Serbia sent by Aleksandar Vucic came to Croatia as a humanitarian, and when the night fell in the city of Knin in Croatia that envoy records a video in which he speaks that one day they would Serbia attack Croatia again and how it will be all of Serbia, he posted this video it on his facebook profile and his to erase it later. His name is Milos Stojkovic. Croatia has sent a protest note to Serbia, but there is no answer.

Do you Expect a true and realistic film from such people?

Whatever

2/8/2021 08:01:10 pm

Cool. But current political affairs do not change the fact that Croats were nazis during wwII, and that they killed around 100k Serbs, Roma, and Jews. They also don't change the facts about war crimes Serbs committed in the 90s, nor the fact that Croats weren't so innocent either at that time. So you all can just continue pointing fingers at each other, measuring who's more guilty of what, or you can all learn not to trust the propaganda that is pitting you against each other. Learn about your past, don't repeat it, move on trying to heal. Your enemy are not the people of Serbian nationality, nor is their enemy Croats. Politicians and other people in power who are teaching you to hate and fight are the real enemy.

2/9/2021 03:10:56 am

This entire post is laughable. Going point by point:
- You need proof to support the statement that Serbia opposes experts from all over the World, "including Serbia" to investigate Jasenovac. Do you know that an investigation by forensic examiners and anthropologists has taken place almost 20 years after the war, before the complex was turned into a memorial?
- No Serbian official has publicly denied that a massacre has taken place in Srebrenica;
- Not going to argue with you about Vučić, we can agree on this.
- The role of Serbian collaborators in persecuting Jews is probably even smaller than that of collaborators in other occupied countries. How about reading an actual historical study, for a change. Walter Manoscheck's doctoral dissertation "Serbien ist Judenfrei" could be a good start.
- The man in question was not "the envoy of Serbia sent by Aleksandar Vucic", and moreover his statement was publicly condemned by the Serbian Ministry of foreign affairs. I do not see Croatian officials condemning anyone's nationalist or even openly fascist statements and insignia.
Now, allow me to pose a different question: do you believe that Israel's actions towards Palestinians amount to war crimes, genocide even? If you agree that that is the case, does that mean that no films about the Shoah should be made anymore?
Allow me a different question: do war crimes perpetrated by Serbia negate all war crimes perpetrated by Croatia in the war of 1991-1995? Do Serbian war crimes negate the existence of the only concentration and extermination camp complex in Europe not run by the Nazis? Do Serbian war crimes, which are something that should be and is routinely condemned by anyone who matters, negate the existence of the only concentration and extermination camp set up exclusively for children which was part of the Jasenovac complex and in which thousands of children did not only die of neglect but were also tortured and murdered by guards, Catholic priests and nuns? Or do you have the audacity to claim that this never happened?

Jean

2/23/2021 05:38:03 pm

Almost nothing of what you said is not true. Go read about Jasenovac from oficial Holocaust books...

2/20/2021 07:17:03 pm

I'm wondering have we watched the same movie?
First the script. It has no story, the whole movie basically nothing happens. From what is going on in the movie it is not even clear that Budo is Dara's brother. When Budo is placed in Dara's care it looks like he's some random baby in the group, and it looks like the character of Vera lies to that nun that she is their aunt. It looks like someone decided after the movie was shoot and edited that Dara and Budo are brother and sister. Not to mention that dialogs are unnatural, often in wrong dialect, and characters very often just magically gain knowledge of some facts which could be important for a story, if a story existed in the first place.
Direction? Allow me to point out just one use of symbols which is indication of both awful writing and directing. Movie starts with people being round up in the cattle car train. So the audience immediately has an emotional impression that they are being taken to a hellish place. When a character dies we see them in a white, snowy exterior, boarding a cattle car. If a real car took them to a hellish place, this other worldly, incorporeal train logically is taking their souls to Hell. That's certainly was not director's and writer's conscious intention, but that's what they have achieved.
Photography? Warm, gentle, autumn day. Atmosphere which is completely disconnected from the rest of the movie. Such playing with emotion could work to accentuate the horror of crimes. But not here, it requires a story for it to function as a shockingly picturesque backdrop. But, alas, this movie doesn't have a story.
Sound design is what you could expect from a Serbian movie, lack of midrange making dialogues barely intelligible. As a native speaker I'm jealous of foreigners who watched with subtitles.
Editing is atrocious even for Serbian standards. There are numerous moments when it's obvious that different takes were stitched together. For example when Blankica appears for the first time, she is approaching Dara sitting on the ground and literally she gets transported a feet or so between two frames.
Costumes are period correct, except for one prisoner with a flannel shirt. Otherwise all characters are dressed in clothes that are oddly clean. Only in one scene Dara's father and another character seems like they got their clothes dirty between takes.
Make up? Character of Nada Šakać has a disappearing and reappearing facial scar under her left eye, and all characters are squeaky clean, except Dara's father later in the movie and Budo in several scenes.
Talking about Nada Šakić is great example how awful script is. Historically she was head of the women's camp, thus she logically should be the main villainess of the movie. But from the movie you can't conclude that. Everything she does could do any random guard which is not the lowliest one. There is no indication that she the main baddy, beside one one dialogue between prisoners when she is introduced as Max Luburić's sister. One has to have a Wikipedia page on Jasenovac opened while watching this movie to use it as a cheat-sheet to keep track of characters and what is their role in the movie. Why? Because the script is awful and fails to introduce and present characters.

Boki

2/22/2021 11:46:45 am

I think that is not true. The plot is very clear for me to say Dara and Budo are siblings. You don’t need to attach the etiquette to their foreheads to say “brother” and “sister”. But at least you realize that true the development. I guess it depends on conceptual understanding and how quickly the viewer can connect the dots, but certainly this movie has been marvellous and superb. Does it deserve 10*? No, but definite 8.5*.

2/23/2021 06:00:23 pm

I think you are not Milovan 🤣 Are you agree?

DARA OF JASENOVAC -- A Brutal and Moving Holocaust Film

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