A Perfect Day

source: A Perfect Day

SPOILER: Greetings again from the darkness. "Somewhere in the Balkans, 1995" is the notice we receive in the opening frame, and the post Kosovo War setting is less about fighting a war and more about finding humanity in the aftermath. Based on the novel by Paula Farias and adapted by Diego Farias and director Fernando Leon de Aranoa, the film follows a group of Aid Across Borders workers as they make their way through the community, attempting to navigate the cultural and political challenges to offering assistance. The corpse in a drinking water well is the immediate challenge facing the aid workers. Benecio Del Toro (Mambru), Tim Robbins (B), Melanie Thierry (Sophie) and their interpreter Fedja Stukan (Damir) are facing a short deadline in order to save the well from contamination for local villagers. Most of the movie revolves around their quest to find a rope so they can hoist the large corpse from the water. Searching for rope may seem a flimsy story center, but on their journey, we get to know these characters, some of the local cultural differences (in regards to dead bodies), the bureaucratic red tape faced, and the always present danger faced by do-gooders from the outside. It's understandable that a group in this situation would utilize humor to offset the ugliness, and there is no shortage of one-liners and wise-cracks, especially from B (Robbins). His cowboy approach is in distinct contrast to the veteran Mambru and the idealistic rookie Sophie. Soon enough they are joined by a local youngster named Nikola (Eldar Reisdovic) and an inspector Katya (Olga Kurylenko) sent to determine if the Aid program should continue. Oh yes, Katya and Mumbru are former lovers and it obviously didn't end well. As they work their way through the ropes challenge and the threat of land mines, we learn through the actions of Mumbru that no matter how much one wants to help, it's only natural (and sometimes painful) to ask yourself if you are truly making a difference, or simply wasting time in a place filled with people who don't seem to care. The specific use of multiple songs is at times distracting, and other times a perfect match (Lou Reed, The Buzzcocks). Del Toro proves yet again that he is a fascinating screen presence, and the message is strong enough to warrant a watch.

Rubbish. This is a bad American comedy that attempts to appear different by virtue of its interesting setting; however, no setting, no matter how interesting, can make up for a terrible script, sexist typecast characters, and "Balkan" English consisting of no more than removing every article from local characters' lines. Benicio del Toro did his job well, but there's only so much a decent actor can do with terrible lines and an all-round crappy script. The number of instances in just the first hour in which women characters are scared or unreasonable and have to be rescued or calmed by an experienced, tough man was beyond cringe-worthy. I walked out after an hour and a quarter of this drivel.

"A Perfect Day" brings us back in 1995 and offers an interesting point of view to the last days of the Bosnian war. The movie reveals a day of an international team of aid workers. It is a drama with a pinch of black humor. The movie shows the horror of the war, the pain of the local people and alludes the cruelty of religious intolerance. Most importantly it reminds the imperfection of the society and the black spot from the European history that should never be forgotten. More than 20 years later, although I am also living on the Balkans, I still cannot figure out why this war started. A total madness that led to some many casualties and losses for everyone involved... The music is great and so is the cast of "A Perfect Day". I always enjoy watching actors like Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins. Mélanie Thierry, Fedja Stukan and the young boy Eldar Residovic also played well. Olga Kurylenko, who you may remember as a Bond girl, performed excellently. Btw it is a bit sad that no matter what she does the "Bond" label will always be with her.

A compelling story begins with a simple event that becomes a complex masterpiece. "A Perfect Day" opens as a group of aid workers in the war torn Balkan region struggle to pull a dead corpse out of the village well before the rotting flesh poisons the water. When their only rope breaks and the body falls back down the well, the team leader Mambru (Benicio Del Toro), his garrulous friend, B (Tim Robbins), the novice aid worker, Sophie (Melanie Thierry), and the local translator, Damir (Fedja Stukan) must drive through the countryside searching for another rope. Disheartened by ridiculous peace protocols, hostile natives, and invisible landmines, they find their only salvation is to act humanly in the present rather than cling to their past beliefs or live for their future dreams. Olga Kurylenko (Katya) and Eldar Residovic (Nikola) round out the cast.

**SPOILERS because I want to save you from wasting your time with this movie!** When the movie started, I saw the IFC logo and an alarm went off in my head but I couldn't remember why. I would later find out that it was because this film embodies the worst in independent movies. The plot of this movie can be accurately summed up in two sentences: A group of aid workers drive around Yugoslavia looking for rope to fish a corpse out of a well. They fail. The end. What makes the movie awful is that it lacks anything to make it interesting besides the scenery and Tim Robbins' character having a few good lines. There is in character development, no message, no conflict, and no resolution. It just literally goes nowhere; I'm sure there are some lame film snobs who think this makes the movie "unique" or whatever but for the majority of people who watch movies to be told a story or be entertained it not only falls short but doesn't even try. The whole movie is just the cast driving around asking random Bosnians for rope and and getting denied at every turn for no reason. Throughout the movie they are paranoid about landmines and RPGs but I didn't hear a single explosion in the entire movie so it made the cast seem paranoid while breaking my suspension of disbelief. The writers in this movie definitely seem to have some sort of anti-UN agenda for whatever reason as evidenced by the movies bad ending where the UN literally sends an army of men with automatic weapons and tanks to stop the cast from removing the corpse from the well for some made up reason that really just seemed like bad writing to give the movie an unhappy ending just for the sake of having an unhappy ending in a lamely transparent attempt to make the film seem more "indie" or something. Independent movies with sad endings can still be really good (an excellent example of this is Donnie Darko) but with this movie it just made seem like over an hour and a half of frustration with no payoff. Watching this movie made me feel like I sat in traffic for over an hour and half to get somewhere only to find the place was closed and I sat in all that traffic for nothing. After the great army of the UN succeeds in their super-important mission to keep a corpse in a well they order the cast to clean the overflowing latrines in the overcrowded refugee camp, a task that should been reserved for whomever wrote this movie. Don't waste your time with this pile of garbage, you will regret it.

This film tells the daily lives of several aid workers in an armed conflict zone in the Balkans. They have to extract a corpse from a well, but are faced with multiple logistical and bureaucratic challenges. "A Perfect Day" may look ridiculous and infuriating from the outside, as it tells a story of ridiculous bureaucracy. So if the common goal is to help the people in a war zone, why are there so many restrictions and hurdles to helping others? Well, my workplace is exactly like that, do I can relate to every single minute of it. The subplot about the local boy Nikola is touching, as it provides a glimpse of hope for humanity - sometimes real help is from unofficial sources!

A Perfect Day tells the story of a group of aid workers during the Balkan War. The daily problems they encounter to do their job as good as possible. Don't expect much action or so because the story is just them trying to find a piece of rope so they can extract a dead body out of a well. Seems easy but in a hostile environment where all the concerned parties are not willing to help it becomes a challenge. Even though there is not much action the story is enjoyable to watch. Add on that first class actors and you get a good movie that is worth a watch. Benicio Del Toro and Tim Robbins are always a delight to watch and in A Perfect Day they do what we are used of them. The script is good, the actors are good, the filming is good, and there is even a bit of humor. Entertaining movie.

I will be very short on my review! A lot of people wrote some very good analysis of the movie which i liked but also i feel need to Say aloud one thing that bothers me..... What makes this film so good,among many other things is neutral point of view BUT it was substantially spoiled by showing only Serbian soldiers who are about to do something bad to the prisoners of war! Serbian soldiers are only side screened in bad light!IT was just one scene,but it could completely disrupt harmony and balance of neutrality! OTher than that......very tough subject for movie but delivered in a excellent way! i will certainly recommend this film to everyone i know

What you've got here is a movie about a team of relief workers, which includes two supermodels, driving SUVs around a former Balkan conflict zone, trying to get a corpse out of a well, but stifled by incompetent and stubborn bumbling military officials. Got about 80 percent through the movie and it was just annoying me more than anything else. The soundtrack is totally inappropriate, with rock jams and guitar riffs that just seem completely wrong for this film. It's really pretty boring and it seems the movie doesn't know what it wants to be - a dark comedy, a straight comedy or a straight drama. Tim Robbins loopy character is annoying but does get a couple laughs. The point seems to be to make U.N. military authorities in a tense conflict zone appear petty and bureaucratic. I've been a military member working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the one portrayed in this film and we did absolutely everything in our power to provide the NGO assistance and security. With the A- list actors and a healthy budget, this film had potential, but it's a wasted effort. Considering I couldn't make it all the way through, I was generous in giving it a "3" and that's because I enjoyed looking at Melanie Thierry.