Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

            “Quo Vadis, Aida?” (“Where Are You Going, Aida?”) is a Bosnian film written, produced, and directed by Jasmila Zbanio. It is a true story about the Srebrenica Massacre which occurred during the Bosnian War. Over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in act of genocide by Serbian troops.

            Aida (Jasna Duricic) is a schoolteacher who works as a translator for the UN. The Serbian army is on the march in the region of Srebrenica. NATO tells the Bosnians to remain in their homes in the city because they will be safe! Soon, tanks move in and the civilians are rounded up. Many are killed, the rest are sent to a refugee camp run by the UN. Aida is in the camp, but her husband and sons are on the outside. She manages to get them in, but then the war criminal Serbian General Mladic arrives and offers to bus the refugees to another city. Don’t get on that bus!

            “Quo Vadis, Aida?” assumes the audience has basic knowledge of the massacre. That was a big assumption when it comes to American viewers. You don’t have to be well-versed on the Bosnian War to understand that the movie deals with a vicious conflict between ethnic and religious groups. When you throw in the well-meaning but toothlessly naïve United Nations, you get a massacre. You won’t trust the UN and NATO to safeguard you if you are ever in a refugee situation. However, the movie does a good job indicting those two organizations, but it does not do a good job demonizing the Serbians who committed the first legally recognized genocide since WWII. There are plenty of Holocaust movies that bring that genocide to viewers. “Quo Vadis, Aida?” botches its opportunity to enrage viewers. It is not nearly as harsh as movies like “Son of Saul”. It does not hit hard enough. Mladic is serving a life sentence as a war criminal. The movie does not make him a villain. All it depicts him as is a liar. Duricic is outstanding as Aida, but the character is not much of a heroine. She is not tormented that she aided the massacre. And the ending of the movie dilutes the impact of her experience.

            Movies about genocide should leave you drained. You should question humanity. They should not end with kids performing for parents. They should not soften war criminals. “Quo Vadis, Aida?” The movie needed to be “Why, Aida?”

 

GRADE  =  C