Triage DVD Review
It’s great to see reviews still coming in for TRIAGE, which will be seeing DVD releases in more countries this month. Here’s a snippet of a review by Christine Bode:
“Described inadequately on imdb.com with “The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague,” Triage is an incredibly provocative and emotional film about the scars of war, survivor’s guilt, and the human ego’s judgment of others’ behaviour in unimaginable situations.”
Read the full review on Scully Love Promo blog.
TRIAGE – UK DVD Release – “Shell Shock”
As always, thanks Sweet on Sigma Films for the heads up!
Danis Tanovic’s TRIAGE will be released in the UK on DVD under the title “Shell Shock.” The film, with an 18 rating, will be released in the UK on DVD February 28, 2011 with pre-orders available now at Play.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Triage Blu-ray is Multi-regional
Per an inquiry by one of our blog visitors, we’d like to let you know that the Triage blu-ray disc is regions A,B & C.
TRIAGE out on Blu Ray & DVD August 10th
Danis Tanovic’s TRIAGE, starring Christopher Lee, Colin Farrell, Paz Vega, Branko Djuric, Jamie Sives and Kelly Reilly is available on Blu Ray and DVD tomorrow.
TRIAGE – Much More than a War Film
A viewer’s response
by TMFS
The Ancient Mayans buried their dead with maize and a jade stone placed inside the deceased one’s mouth, serving as food and currency for their journey to the underworld. In Ancient Rome, mourners took part in a public procession to the funeral pyre or tomb, wearing masks that depicted images of their family’s deceased ancestors. Every society on earth from the dawn of time has devised its own death rituals to ease the living.
A woman grateful for a “charade.” A procession of stretchers ceremoniously set down. A man administering last rights to the luckless as they are euthanized. Even a doctor’s system of color coded tags meant to attribute design to death that is arbitrary, is ritual. And a man haunted by a burden for the fate of the dead.
Fade to black. “It is only the dead who have seen the end of war.” This quote by Plato does not appear on screen at the end of Danis Tanovic’s Triage to offer a quick resolution, slick and easy moralizing or a dramatic punchline. It is an invitation to meditate on the experience one has just had while watching the film. There is a question inherent within this quote that is so illusive, that at the moment the film ends one immediately has a fleeting revelation of it and then quickly returns to the only vantage point one can have — that of the living.
If you are intending to see Triage with the expectation of explosions, bullets and savage scenes depicting combat, know that there are images you won’t soon forget. But Triage is not just a film about war. Also, not simply a reflection on the “voyeurism” of war reporters, of course the film examines the question as to what motivates the photojournalist. We’ve all seen the Pulitzer prize winning photograph of the execution of Viet Cong Captain Nguyen Van Lem. What may be less familiar to us is the photo of the widow he left behind. And possibly for some of us who live so far removed from the experience of war or extermination, this kind of documentation helps us to wrap our heads around the fact that such atrocities do indeed exist.
At first consideration of Triage, it may seem as though the war scenes in Iraqi Kurdistan are the plot and the protagonist’s return home is the subplot. But actually, it’s the other way round. The first half hour sets the stage for the rest of the film. One which explores numerous themes. It is a film about those left behind and about those who survive. It is a story of guilt and redemption. Universally, it is a meditation on our relationship to the dead.
“We cannot let go of the pain. We have to carry it with us forever. That is what it means to live.”
It is also a rumination on what it means to be alive. What it means to be alone in one’s experience. And what it means to be alive forever altered, as truly understood by Joaquín (Christopher Lee). All of this is extremely resonant beyond the backdrop of a war story. In Mark (Colin Farrell), we see a man who is forever changed. From the moment he exits the taxi and approaches his front door, we see it. The film puts forth the question as to whether or not in some cases “we can only understand what we directly experience.” And in some cases, I would say this is so.
As its title suggests, Triage is about sorting. In the war zone it’s about sorting the savable from the irreparable. Moreover, back home it’s about sorting the savable from the irrecoverable. And about finding a way to endure the unendurable. Thus begins the contemplation.
What Triage is devoid of is any Hollywood glossiness. There is no blood-and-thunder action hero, no glamorizing of warfare and no cliché Hollywood dialogue. The real conflict in this film is an internal one centered around the first few weeks of post traumatic grief. Chapter One in the grieving process. Or maybe even the prologue to the grieving process (I’m reminded of Gordy Hoffman’s “Love Liza” — Wilson only truly begins to allow himself to grieve in the final moments of the film when he finally opens the letter).
On all accounts the acting is top drawer. One doesn’t feel like they are watching actors working. Neither is the camera intrusive, but rather serves as a window through which the viewer looks in. As well, there are visual moments of pure poetry. Triage is clearly marked with credibility and authenticity by virtue of its director Danis Tanovic and its author, former war correspondent Scott Anderson — both whom have seen war first hand through the lens.
Sir Christopher Lee (Joaquín) is effortless and delivers a performance that is weighted by life experience. Colin Farrell has never been so fragile and not merely because of his dramatic weight loss for the role. There is a seismic shift that takes place in the psyche of his character Mark. His portrayal is vulnerable and his embodiment of the accompanying circumstances is wrought with unclad honesty. Paz Vega, whose character’s story is somewhat diluted from that of Anderson’s novel, imbues Elena with a love for Mark that is tender, unmistakable and almost tangible in some scenes. Branko Djuric plays the supporting role of Dr. Talzani unforced, unsentimental and with a quiet frankness and genuine substance. The cast is rounded out with Jamie Sives who plays the sensitive David and Kelly Reilly (Diane), who doesn’t appear to have an untruthful bone in her body.
As with all novels put to screen, there are definite omissions of some details and back-stories that are contained within the book. The film could have easily been 4 hours long in order to encompass the entire novel. But that would not necessarily have made for good film-making. Instead, the film runs just over an hour and a half. Yet the film in its brevity succeeds in doing what any good art does. It asks questions. In this case, some of the questions can be difficult to look at. Though I personally have never seen a war zone and in that way have little in common with the protagonist, I somehow felt as though I met someone in the film’s novelist and its director who might understand me on some level. And for that, I thank them.
Triage will be available on blu ray and dvd in the U.S. on August 10th.
What’s New with Director Danis Tanovic?
As many of us still wait for our chance to see TRIAGE, we have yet another film to look forward to from the Bosnian director. CIRKUS COLUMBIA recently opened the Sarajevo Film Festival where it took home the Audience Award for Best Feature. Next, CIRKUS COLUMBIA will have its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section and also play at the Toronto International Film Festival later the same month. Hopefully we’ll be seeing an international trailer soon.
The 8th edition of Guerra e Pace Filmfest (War and Peace Filmfest) takes place from July 19th to the 25th, 2010, at the five-century old Sangallo Fortress, city of Neptune, Italy, with Danis Tanovic’s TRIAGE screening on July 21st.
Reflecting on current issues such as international conflict and peace, each year the festival brings to the public a week dedicated to the cinema of war and peace along with book presentations and exhibitions. This year’s opening exhibition by Aiviter will be Years of Lead: The voice of the Victims – Lest We Forget, in 27 exhibition panels documenting the terrorist attacks in Italy from 1969 to 1988.
Included with TRIAGE in this year’s film schedule are Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon, George Rights’ The Man That Will, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, John Woo’s The Battle of the Three Kingdoms, and Victims, a documentary by Giovanna Gagliardo.
Critique – TRIAGE (Eyes of War)
Originally posted in French on Toutlecine. Loosely translated to English.
If you speak French, you can read the review in the original language HERE .
Written by Gwen Douguet
Danis Tanovic loves duets. In No Man’s Land, his first feature film, he picked apart the opposition between two sworn enemies, a Bosnian and Serb. With war in his viewfinder, he continued his reflection on human behavior confronted with the repercussions of an armed conflict. But here, not of soldiers on the front line, just two news photographers, two Englishmen. One is engaged, the other about to be a dad. Together they have covered many conflicts, and decide to “shell out” one final, quickly well done. Some click-clack in Afghanistan and voila. Except that the unexpected lies in wait, stashed in the trenches of the horror.
Voyeurism and truth
With Eyes of War [Triage], the director questions. He wonders how far should one go to tell the unrepeatable, to witness the drama of atrocities engendered by war. His two heroes go to the front as others [other men] go fishing. A few days later, one is missing, the other returns haunted by secrets, by the unbearable. Walled in silence and dumbness incomprehensible to his family he appears torn between voyeurism and a need to show. Gradually, his conscience, his subconscious can not avoid collateral damage, internal explosions caused by mines ultra-personal, that of guilt, the quest for truth, sensationalism, death with its attendant abominations as a detonator to justify having pressed the shutter.
Colin Farrell’s true!
Lost, undermined by a journey into hell, Colin Farrell (Mark) delivers an unusual performance, full of nuances, sober, true. His inner torments are like oil stains on the ground [almost impossible to remove]. His face-to-face discussion with a survivor of the Franco Regime, Christopher Lee, in many respects reinforces reflection. He and his partner – Paz Vega – will show at which point this profession hacks the innards. Should we show the pains of some, the crimes of others, for the alleged good of all in the name of freedom, of truth? What truth of an image, a moment stolen?
As a victim of relentless explosions between his neighbors, former head of the archives of films of the Bosnian army, marked raw by life, by the siege of Sarajevo, Danis Tanovic advances on the terrain of doubts with a great aptness. His knowledge of the subject is obvious. His staging works in the background, under a veneer of neutrality – he questions. The cinema has already studied this subject by addressing the World of war reporters, but the framework has increasingly tended to drift in all the excesses. The director Tanovic works in depth, albeit with some delay [pacing] likely to annoy. His view provokes, disturbs. Goal achieved.
Triage (Eyes of War) out in French Cinemas Tomorrow
“Triage” (Eyes of War) will open in French Cinemas on June 16, 2010. See the current list of some of the cinemas screening the film below and we hope to be adding to that list!
UGC Ciné-Cité Bercy
2 cour Saint-Emilion – 75012 – Paris – Tél: 08.92.70.00.00
UGC Ciné-Cité les Halles
7 place de la Rotonde – 75001 – Paris – Tél: 08.92.70.00.00
UGC George-V
146 av. des Champs-Elysées – 75008 – Paris – Tél: 08.92.70.00.00
Triage at 13th Shanghai International Film Festival
Danis Tanovic’s “Triage” starring Colin Farrell and Christopher Lee is one of 17 films featured in the Irish Retrospective section of the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival . The Irish Retrospective is presented in association with the Irish Film Board and IFI Reel Ireland. The festival runs June 12-20, 2010. Triage had scheduled screenings on the 12th through the 15th and one still to come on the 20th in Hall6, Century Friendship Cinema.
Source: Allocine.fr
This exposé originally appeared in French on Allocine.fr.
Loosely (and bravely) translated here into English.
If you read French, be sure to check it out in the original language!
EYES OF WAR – SECRETS OF SHOOTING
Metamorphosis
To interpret the character of globe-trotting journalist, Colin Farrell consulted with books and photos of the war, watched documentaries about the war and admitted he was surprised at “the speed at which,” after a few weeks, he [the character] hardens. In reading the script, he was struck by the sight of an emaciated character after his stay in the caves of Hariri. Never mind that he went so far as to lose nearly 20Kg [44 pounds] by following a diet of black coffee and Diet Coke to refine his silhouette!
An Obvious Choice
When Kelly Reilly was contacted by Danis Tanovic, her response was immediate: “He’s a terrific director who has a real regard (…). He’s very practical, he knows what he wants but he is neither rigid nor authoritarian. (…) He is extremely generous, it’s great to have a director who knows how to use this experience in terms of intelligence and to serve his art.” The role of Diane she holds dear to heart because it allows a ‘contre-champ’ [countershot] to these women married to photojournalists and who stay home and are “very strong in order to accept what their spouses do for a living.”
Official USA “Triage” DVD One-Sheet with Cover Art
Thanks to Sweet on Sigma Films for the heads up! E1 Entertainment has released the official one-sheet with cover art for the US DVD of Triage, due out August 10th. Get the full scoop, see the artwork in high resolution, plus a bit of press material from actor Jamie Sives on Sweet on Sigma Films’ Blog.
Triage Opens in Dubai
We Are The Movies is reporting that Triage opened this weekend in Dubai cinemas!
French Review of Triage (Eyes of War)
Source: Filmosphere
Written by Niko
A thoughtful and thought provoking critique written by Niko and originally published in French on Filmosphere. Admittedly, somewhat clumsily translated here into English. If you read French, please do read the review in the original language.
So it was a huge revelation straight from his first film, No Man’s Land, justly rewarded almost everywhere (in Cannes and the Oscars, class!), Bosnian director has been fairly quiet since almost 10 years, emerging from the shadows in 2005 to present Hell written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and more than coldly received by critics. And it is once again with a subject of war he finally returns to the screens, a subject he knows well, having filmed documentaries on the front during the Bosnian war. But this time he tackles the problem with a different angle, probably closest to him because he likes war journalists. Oliver Stone’s brutal Salvador to foil Tony Scott’s Spy Game, the subject has already been processed but rarely so clear and sincere about these elusive men, unarmed soldiers and homeless, who are often among the victims and also suffer terribly when they return to the real world. He had to look for a man who experienced the war to make it all believable, as was the case for Stone. By cons, are going to have to push a new rant against the distributor because there is no longer possible! Why change a title as simple and evocative as Sort (which does not require a French translation), downright logical when you see the movie, by another English title more pompous? It’s annoying as a method! But anyway, this does not alter the great qualities of this ambitious film and worn by a player once more on top of his art.
