The Kolaborator (2007)
During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia many soldiers were convinced to kill fellow citizens including friends and relatives in the name of patriotism. The Kolaborator follows the story of Goran, 24, a promising young soccer player who is forced to become a soldier. Goran goes from being a talented athlete to an executioner virtually overnight. Following orders, Goran lines up civilians, shoots them and drags them into mass graves. Justifying his role as a protector of his people, Goran becomes increasingly detached from the task until his soccer coach and life-long friend, Asim, is led in front of him. As a familiar face stands defeated before him, Goran must reconsider his actions and choose between his own life and that of his dear friend.
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Don't Believe the Hype
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
This is an incredibly powerful short about genocide during the Yugoslavian civil war and the ethical choice one soldier must make. As a previous reviewer has written, the soldier (Goran) was a promising soccer player, which we learn in the first few minutes of the film. The scene quickly breaks to Goran in military attire playing soccer, when the ball rolls into a pit of dead civilians. We quickly learn that this was not an accidental discovery, but rather this group of men are serving as executioners to their fellow countrymen. A truckload of more civilians arrive, and Goran meets a man from his past and is ordered to execute him.He has already seen one of his fellow soldiers killed by their commanding officer for refusing to continue to commit the atrocities. Goran's choice is murder his friend,or be executed himself for refusing to follow orders. Which will he choose?
The movie appears to be nothing more than an excuse to show gratuitous violence and depictions of war. It's about 15 minutes--if that--so the story doesn't thicken much. The main character plays football and then winds up in a war. (No, I'm not skipping things, that's actually how they film it.) Then a person from his past (hint: it's someone that was on the football field obviously. There's nothing else for the viewer to draw from!) comes across the soldier's path and the commanding officer gives the order for the main character to shot him. Does he kill his acquaintance from the past? From the way the short was trying so hard to show the horrors of war (too hard), I lost interest in whether he does or not.The cinematography was pretty good. Decent shots that were relevant to the script, without being to artsy. However, the script proved to be a colossal waste of my time.