When Warriors of the Wasteland (originally titled Volja sinovljeva or The Will of the Son) is a long film where I thought the premise was good, but the execution is off, perhaps turning it into a serialised series makes more sense. Writer Strahinja Madžarević has some good ideas, but there’s just something missing. I can’t really blame Nemanja Ćeranić, who directed the effort. When I got the feeling some commentary is being made about how tough life is around the Balkan provinces, perhaps I’m just missing the point.
Or perhaps, some editing is needed to make the ideas make more sense. I did, however, understand what the film was getting at regarding the Grain People (Zrnoljudi)’s plight. They are a peaceful agrarian collective of farmers defending their ancestral land against the exploitation of distant city councillors. Over there, they are all corrupt. And after seeing this film, I couldn’t help but want to compare the ideas to what I recall from Mad Max and Logan’s Run.
As for Jovan (Igor Benčina), a drifter getting stuck in the middle of this war, all he wants is his missing daughter. After watching Blades of the Guardians, the Chinese Wuxia film, it was also easy to start wondering if both tales are borrowing from the same template. But whene one tale trades ponytails for rough and tumble ruffians, that’s barely enough when a kid is involved.
Mind you, this particular character has a more involving back story that does get revealed over time. At least in this tale, there’s an importance to the sword he’s carrying and I was curious enough to keep watching to see how things connect. As for why he owns this sword, I wondered if the anime Bastard served as a major influence? If so, being more blatant helps. As both works are dealing with a post apocalyptic world that’s well worn and battle savvy, I was curious about what the Last War entailed, and who Jovan was.
In terms of the story, the idea is fairly standard, but without enough chemistry from the performers to sell the concept, I found my mind wandering and hoping the finale has more punch. There’s enough to keep interest alive, but when this film is roughly 150mins long, even I started to tune out.
Overall, this film can be made better by reducing the cast count. With too many herrings and world building going on, even I wasn’t sure who to root for. The character of Sergej (Tuđin) is interesting. He’s kind of like Brutus from classical Greek legend, and if he a going to be a traitor to this world’s version of Caesar, that’s a detail I need to double-check on.
When considering this tale is based on local folklore, I’m sure there are some legends that’s not known, to which I will have to discover to add to my pool of knowledge. After I’m better informed, I will have to revisit this film again. In what I found so far, two works are highly recommended reading. There’s “The Serbian Epic Ballads: An Anthology” (Translated by Geoffrey N.W. Locke, 1997) and “Kossovo: Heroic Songs of the Serbs” (Translated by Helen Rootham, 1920). Both of which I am slowly reading and processing. I’m sure with this added context, I can find reason to appreciate this Serbian film more.
3 Stars out of 5
Warriors of the Wasteland Trailer
