A Perfect Day [2015]

February 24, 2017

In order to make a good war or post-war movie, you have to be extremely talented and careful. Only a few people managed to do so, while others made horrible movies. Horrible movies that will be remembered for their lack of perspective. One of the worst movies I have ever seen is Angelina Jolie’s In the Land of Blood and Honey [2011] which further perpetuated the violence and all the horrible things that come with war. A Perfect Day is a textbook example of how a post-war movie should look like. It doesn’t take sides or supposes anything, it just chronicles the stuff that’s happening from a human perspective. When you add black humor and great acting to this you almost get a masterpiece.

There are a couple of problems with pacing and clichéd main love story. However, the atmosphere and the sheer oddity of the situation should cover that up nicely. Starring Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins, two very experienced and already proven actors, the cast of A Perfect Day did a great job. One of the things that are often overlooked when it comes to movies with the post-war themes is their ability to introduce a lot of different cultures and customs to the viewer in a very unobtrusive way. Especially if you haven’t experienced these things. Just imagine how would your country and people deal with all this shit…

A Perfect Day [2015] Movie Review Recommendation Poster

Ahhhh the Balkans, a place where everything is possible but it rarely happens. It is the year of our lord Satan 1995 and war in Bosnia is slowly dying out after a couple of years of chaos. UN and various Aid organizations are trying to help the locals to get back on track. However, problems they are encountering are not only strange but sometimes just overwhelming.

When this movie started I hoped that it’s going to be one of those real-time-flow movies with the crew trying to do their job with stuff happening along the way. This would be good for me but it would take so much from this movie. There are a couple of scenes that really captured the ridiculousness and everlasting terror that war leaves behind. And not just in objects or events that happened during wartime, but in people that carry that shit for their entire lives. Cleverly accented and acted these scenes are truly haunting. And all this is infused with a lot of black humor so you don’t have to hang yourself for the sins of humanity.

I hate to say it again but this is another one of those Sunday movies. Although it is a bit more difficult than your average Sunday viewing. Another aspect worth discussing is the re-evaluation of your own life through the lens of a pre, during, and post-war society. When you realize that you have been so incredibly lucky not to end up in such a situation, it really puts things in perspective. Although, I think most of you reading this have some connection to these conditions. And in that case, it’s a bit comforting to know that there will be an end to the horror. A horror that seems to be everlasting while you’re in it.