The Balkan Line (2019)

Director: Andrey Volgin

Starring: Anton Pampushnyy, Milena Radulovic, Yuriy Kutsenko

After the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the Yugoslav army pulls out of Kosovo region, leaving Serbian people at the mercy of the Albanian UCK terrorists. A small band of soldiers must take over the Slatina airport, and hold it until the Russian peacekeepers arrive.

Ok, let’s start with the positive. The film’s photography and visuals are incredible. The cinematography is awesome. The story was interesting enough, and I really cared about the characters. The film has a good antagonist you simply can’t help but hate (and boy, did he get what he deserved!)

Now my issues with the film. There are too many characters and therefore also too many back stories. Constant inter-cutting between scenes happening simultaneously was annoying and confusing. (It might be clearer with a second viewing). Showing scenes out of sequence further added to the confusion. There’s also a lot of scenes that could – and probably should – have ended on the Cutting Room floor instead. This would have ensured a shorter runtime resulting in a faster paced film.

Based on fact, they just couldn’t resist adding a fictional – and dare I say unnecessary – love story. *rolling my eyes*. In the end it was all good, though. The film’s final hour is a spectacular thrill ride filled with action and suspense, and great visuals.

Would I watch it again? I think so, yes.

In Russian