Lego Gore Essay

‘Lepo Sela, Lepo Gore’ or ‘Pretty Village, Pretty Flame’ is a Serbian film from 1996 directed by Srđan Dragojević, based on a true story from the Bosnian War. The film follows a non-linear structure, changing between different events, telling the story several different characters and how they came to be involved with the situation they find themselves in.

The film beings with a mock-newsreel in black and white covering the opening of the ‘Tunnel of Brotherhood and Unity’ by President Josip Broz Tito in 1971. As the newsreel ends, the scene shifts into colour. The atmosphere is joyful and excited, with school children singing Tito’s Theme. As Tito cuts the ceremonial ribbon, the music shifts to a slower, more dramatic anthem with stab chords and repeated beats on the drums. Tito accidentally cuts his thumb with the scissors as the music stops. One of the children standing in front of him is splatted with blood. There is complete silence for a few seconds before Tito laughs and the music resumes. While this scene may seem odd in isolation, it is incredibly important to understanding the message of ‘Lepo Sela, Lepo Gore’. The opening scene foreshadows the coming bloodshed of the Bosnian war. The tunnel, which is the setting for much of the action within the film, is an important symbol. ‘Bratstvo i jedinstvo’ or ‘Brotherhood and Unity’ was the slogan of

While the soldiers are trapped in the tunnel, they make jokes with the opposing side, over music and entertainment, and the stereotypes placed on both groups. The quote ‘My sister can’t afford mourning clothes’ is repeated twice. Death seems almost inevitable, and the soldiers find themselves joking about finding a practical reason not to die. The reason given also shows the state of the economy, one of the leading reasons for the collapse of