Remake (2003 film)


Remake is a 2003 Bosnian war film directed by Dino Mustafić, produced by Enes Cviko and Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre. The film is a Turkish-French co-production.
The film stars Ermin Bravo, Aleksandar Seksan, Ermin Sijamija, Dejan Aćimović, Lucija Šerbedžija, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Miraj Grbić, François Berléand, Évelyne Bouix, and was written by Zlatko Topčić.
Remake tells the parallel coming-of-age stories of a father living in Sarajevo during World War II and his son living through the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
The film premiered at the 32nd International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 23, 2003. The film's US premiere was at the 2004 Wine Country Film Festival, where it won three awards: Best First Feature, Best Actor and Award for Peace and Cultural Understanding. It won a Special Mention Award at the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival.
It was critically praised and was a commercial success, grossing $168.7 million worldwide against a production budget of $20 million.

Plot and theme

The film tells two tragic stories in one. With an interval of fifty years in between, it brings the experience of the World War II and the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.
In the early 1990s, Tarik is a young Sarajevan just starting out as a writer. Before the onset of war in the former Yugoslavia, he sends a screenplay to a literary competition in France.
In a parallel plot, we see the dramatization of his script: a true story of his father Ahmed Karaga, who is unprepared for the outbreak of World War II and ends up in a concentration camp, but manages to survive. In the present plot, Ahmed's drama is almost identically replayed in the fate of Tarik. Only the era and the conditions of suffering have changed.
In Sarajevo, Tarik is captured by the Serbian Army and is subjected to the cruel conditions of a labour camp, which differs little from a concentration camp. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, a famous French film producer helps exchange Tarik for another prisoner and ensures transportation to Paris.
There, where few know of the great tragedy that has struck Bosnia, he meets one of his tormentors.
The film explores the theme of revenge versus forgiveness, as well as the idea that history repeats itself and that those who do not learn from it are doomed to repeat it.
Remake is however more than a war film. It is also a coming-of-age drama, with scenes in which Ahmed and Tarik go out with their friends, have fun, fall in love.

Cast and characters

Remake is the first feature film directed by Dino Mustafić and the first written by Zlatko Topčić. Mustafić said in an interview: "We need a cathartic films that talk about our recent past. They are just as important as a testimony to the evil and stupidity of war does not happen again." Topčić said: "The script is devoid of ideological and daily political tinge. This movie wants to be a movie of love, not hate."
The film's script was published like a book in 2002.

Filming

Filming took place in Paris, Sarajevo and many other locations. Principal photography began in 2001.

Release

The film was released worldwide on January 23, 2003, by Forum and Terra Entertainment Inc.. It was released to cinemas throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina on February 22, 2003.

Music

Musician Adi Lukovac and singer Emina Zečaj collaborated on the soundtrack for the film.

Accolades

Reception

Box office

Remake was a box office hit worldwide. It is the most watched film in its native country ever, the highest-grossing film, from Southeast Europe, of all time and one of the highest-grossing foreign language films in the United States, making $41.9 million there. It grossed $168.7 million worldwide against a production budget of $20 million.

Critical response

The film garnered positive reviews. Ronald Holloway of Kino-German Film & International Reports gave the film high praise and wrote that "Remake should not be missed". Also, he called it "a major film event of 2003".
Deborah Young gave a positive review in Variety, remarking that the "film strongly suggests the cycle of violence is endless". Stephen Dalton, from The Hollywood Reporter, selected Remake in list "Best 100 Movies Ever Made". Critics considered that it is "one of the most phenomenal films in recent world cinema" and mark it as "a masterpiece".
The film's world premiere was at the 32nd International Film Festival Rotterdam, where a critic said that Remake is a "very brave film, describing the situation as it was". It was the most watched film of the festival and received a 20 minute standing ovation.
Critics specifically praised a cult scene in which actor Mario Drmać sings a traditional folk song Il' je vedro, il' oblačno. On Filmski.net, the film has a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars. MukMag rated Remake as one of the best films of ex-YU cinema.

International festival circuit

The film was screened at over 100 international film festivals around the world, including the Festival du Film de Paris, New York Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Locarno Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Berlin International Film Festival, Rome Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Gothenburg Film Festival, FEST, Salerno International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Valencia International Film Festival Cinema Jove, Toronto International Film Festival, Sofia International Film Festival, Transilvania International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Houston Cinema Arts Festival, Monaco International Film Festival, International Istanbul Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, Filmfest München, Prague International Film Festival - Febiofest, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Wine Country Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, and many other.
It was screened at festivals in the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Monaco, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. It was also premiered on TV in the United States and Hungary.

Banned in Republika Srpska

Given national divisions over the Bosnian War, the film generated considerable political controversy in the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and was banned there, which increased the film's popularity and profit at the worldwide box office. It has, however, been shown in Serbia itself.

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