Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (Esma's Secret - Grbavica) poster & wallpaper
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Mirjana Karanovic, Luna Mijovic, Leon Lucev, Kenan Catic, Jasna Ornela Berry ... see more see more... , Dejan Acimovic , Bogdan Diklic , Emir Hadzihafisbegovic , Ermin Bravo , Semka Sokolovic , Maike Höhne , Jasna Zalica , Nada Durevska , Minka Muftic , Dunja Pasic , Sedina Muhibic , Sabina Turulja , Vanesa Glodo , Sanja Buric , Hasija Boric , Mirza Tanovic , Hendrik Massute , Mirsad Comaga , Enis Avdic , Ana Jovanovic , Tamara Zaric

A woman sees her own traumatic past reflected in the actions of her teenage daughter in this drama from first-time writer and director Jasmila Zbanic. Esma (Mirjana Karanovic) is a single mother tryin... read more read more...g to raise her teenage daughter, Sara (Luna Mijovic), in Sarajevo in the wake of war. While Esma works as a barmaid at a nightclub run by Saran (Bogdan Diklic), a man on the wrong side of the law, she has trouble making ends meet, and receives occasional benefits payments from a support group for women who have been affected by the war. Esma has little interest in talking about the loss of her husband, whom she claims was a hero fighting for Bosnia, and can become hyper-emotional with little provocation. As Pelda (Leon Lucev), one of Esma's co-workers at the club, attempts to interest her in romance, Esma notices that Sara has caught the eye of Samir (Kenan Catic), a rebellious young man who is one of her classmates. As Esma tries to discourage Sara from becoming involved with Samir, she finds fate has forced her to tell her daughter the truth about her father. Grbavica received its world premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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82% liked it

2,806 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

43 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Jasmila Zbanic

Release Date: February 16, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 12, 2007

Stats: 165 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (165)

  • kiriyamakazou
    September 11, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    A fantastic film that like so many others has the most simple of premises but is rich in character complexities and emotions. War torn Bosnia is relegated to the background which makes it all the more powerful, the way mass graves and dead husbands/fathers as ordinarily as the we... read moreather really amplifies how this is normal for so many people. It makes it horrifying without ever showing such events. Instead we are shown a sweet story of a mother attempting to get enough money so her daughter can go on a trip. On the way both Esma and her daughter Sara come into contact with male confidantes, and like the rest of the film it doesn't boil these down to simple romances. It expresses the secrets and insecurities mother and daughter have with each other. The film is powerful and forever engrossing making even the urban views of Grbavica look desolately beautiful thanks the the cinematography. A real masterpiece.
  • gator681
    November 14, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams," Esma(Mirjana Karanovic), a survivor of the Bosnian Genocide, is a seamstress in Sarajevo by day who takes a night job as a waitress at a bar owned by Saran(Bogdan Diklic) to make ends meet. However, the second job still... read more does not give her enough money to pay for her daughter Sara's(Luna Mijovic) field trip. So it helps that her friend Sabina(Jasna Ornela Beri) is willing to look after her daughter, even though like most teenagers, she is acting out. [/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]While "Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams" is not earth shattering, it is certainly compelling enough in its exploration of a country that is still trying to come together after the atrocities committed more than a decade before. It certainly does not help matters that Esma's generation refuses to speak about their experiences.(The only reason she attends group meetings is to collect a government check.) To the viewer, it may seem very clear what she has gone through but to her daughter with a limited sense of history, it is a totally different matter. And maybe that is what the field trip is meant to rectify.[/font]
  • mvieaddict
    April 30, 2010
    mvieaddict
    Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic made an excellent movie about the true story of woman during the war in former Yugoslavia. Many Bosnian women had been raped by Serb soldiers, and this movie showed this issue in an unusual way.The touching story was very simple but showed in a del... read moreicate way through the relationship of an abused mother and her rebel teenage daughter. All the performances were fantastic but Mirjana Karanovic as Esma and the direction of Jasmila Zbanic were awesome and the result of the movie will certainly makes me want to watch it twice."

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Critic Reviews

Robert Denerstein
May 18, 2007
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

Grbavica increases in power as it progresses. It's a movie about the ways in which people yearn for healing and about the many obstacles that work to prevent it.

Carrie Rickey
May 4, 2007
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Like its music, the film's emotions proceed from lament to screaming screed to chorus of hope. Full Review

Walter V. Addiego
March 30, 2007
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

The portrayal of a wounded society is compelling, and the film ends on a very modestly hopeful note, appropriate for a country where the 'dreams' have been mostly painful. Full Review

Ty Burr
March 9, 2007
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The admirable feminist agenda occasionally trips up the narrative, but the film's performances keep it on track. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
March 1, 2007
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Grbavica is a film we watch with our heart in our mouth, wondering when, if ever, the war will end for those who lived through it and, at least physically, survived. Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum
February 28, 2007
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

The dramatic conflicts are soapy and unsubtle, but Karanovic pours intense authority into Esma's scarred psyche. Full Review

David Ansen
February 20, 2007
David Ansen, Newsweek

Zbanic's deeply personal saga allows us to see the savage price that women paid in the Balkan wars.

Dana Stevens
February 19, 2007
Dana Stevens, Slate

Grbavica, like its heroine, is brave enough to try to find love among the ruins. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
February 16, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams shows Westerners the aftermath of a story we may have forgotten. And it reminds us that the horrors of that war still go on, every time one of its survivors closes her ... Full Review

V.A. Musetto
February 16, 2007
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Mirjana Karanovic and Luna Mijovic give powerful performances as [director] Zbanic imbues a simple story with a powerful commentary on the Bosnian war's devastating impact on the innocent. It's a less... Full Review

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