AllMovie

Heroji is situated in Sarajevo in 1995, but the film concentrates less on shelling and snipers than on human relationships and how they develop under pressure, fear, uncertainty, and violence. Senka and Zan are actors who want to make theatre in Sarajevo. Zen is married to Senka's sister. After their district is invaded by the Serbs, they move into an apartment at the city center. Senka keeps waiting for her lover, who has gone to the front. When he finally comes back, it is only for a short period. Senka finds it difficult to carry on her daily routine under these circumstances. The war is present in the background of the film, to show how people live with this oppressive threat hovering over their heads. Even those who do not become direct victims cannot escape it. François Linel lived and worked in Bosnia for four years during the war, making documentaries and two feature films. Heroji was shot in 1996 in the middle of the war with the support of local actors and Bosnian television. The film dispenses with many of the usual clichés about the war and avoids portraying the protagonists as victims. Lunel uses peaceful scenes to accentuate the fragile balance of everyday life in a city beset by war.