A Japanese tourist is in Italy, merrily taking snapshots of all there is to see. He goes into a shop and, despite his disbelief, hands over his film to the shopkeeper who says he can develop it all in under ten minutes; such a short time! Meanwhile in Sarajevo, the same ten minutes seems a lot longer in the life of one boy sent out to fetch some bread and water for the evening meal.
I'm not sure why the device of the Japanese tourist was specifically chosen but regardless of how it is delivered, the message of the film is a simple and powerful one. To many of us ten minutes seems like no time at all; the time it takes to fetch a cup of coffee perhaps, or write that email I owed that guy etc. However in other circumstances, ten minutes can see a lot happen. This contrast is played out between the two threads, with the Japanese tourist acting as bookends to the main story. Ignoring this device for a minute what the film does do is deliver a convincing and depressing picture of life in a war zone. OK so the war itself is less than topical but it seems little different in Iraq or Afghanistan just hotter and with more sand. The delivery of the Sarajevo story is convincingly real. The ending lacked an emotional punch as I had had no time to engage with the characters but the story was still engaging as it did an excellent job of summarising life as a civilian in a war zone; normal activities turning into death, walking a dog becomes a risk etc.
A strong but simple film then that is framed well by the idea of 10 minutes as both a very short and very long time, depending on your circumstances. Convincing in delivery even if the emotional content was not all that I had hoped it would be.
I'm not sure why the device of the Japanese tourist was specifically chosen but regardless of how it is delivered, the message of the film is a simple and powerful one. To many of us ten minutes seems like no time at all; the time it takes to fetch a cup of coffee perhaps, or write that email I owed that guy etc. However in other circumstances, ten minutes can see a lot happen. This contrast is played out between the two threads, with the Japanese tourist acting as bookends to the main story. Ignoring this device for a minute what the film does do is deliver a convincing and depressing picture of life in a war zone. OK so the war itself is less than topical but it seems little different in Iraq or Afghanistan just hotter and with more sand. The delivery of the Sarajevo story is convincingly real. The ending lacked an emotional punch as I had had no time to engage with the characters but the story was still engaging as it did an excellent job of summarising life as a civilian in a war zone; normal activities turning into death, walking a dog becomes a risk etc.
A strong but simple film then that is framed well by the idea of 10 minutes as both a very short and very long time, depending on your circumstances. Convincing in delivery even if the emotional content was not all that I had hoped it would be.