The Subtlties of War in "No Man's Land"

The Bosnian War of 1993 is a war many have probably never heard of. I certainly have never heard of any American films to cover the Bosnian War, but No Man's Land does just that, but in a more subtle way. Instead of epic battles and a courageous protagonist, we are presented with 3 characters Cera, Ciki (Bosnian Muslims) and Nino (Bosnian Serb) who end up stuck in a trench between their two warring sides. These characters are flawed in their own right, and none of them are really the protagonist or antagonist; they are just two different sides of the war.
The director, Danis Tanovic, presents a story based around the humanity of these characters and their interactions with the press and the United Nations force. Scenes in the trench usually involve a changing of power (who wields the gun) which may metaphorically represent the changing of power in the actual war itself (Serbs gain the upperhand, then the Muslims, etc). Really, the only sympathizable character is Cera who was placed on top of a mine by Nino and his former comrade, who was killed by Ciki. As he lays upon the mine, we ponder his fate as Sergeant Marchand of the UNPROFOR arrives at the trench in order to help.
At this point, the movie begins to focus more on Marchand and the general ineptness of the UN. Even the ranking officials refuse to do anything, and it is through Marchand's own act of defiance that Cera, Ciki, and Nino receive any help whatsoever. He is the only other character who seems to show any humanity, as even the reporter Jane Livingstone seems only interested in the story of the soldiers instead of actually helping them. All of these events lead up to the resolution of the tale, and what a powerful one it was.
It seems that Nino, Ciki, and Cera may be saved as media pressure forces the UNPROFOR to come to the aid of the three. Things turn bleak when the German Mine Expert states that he cannot defuse the mine underneath Cera. Following this, Ciki kills Nino in an act of revenge for an earlier incident, and one of the young UNPROFOR guards guns down Ciki. To save face, the UNPROFOR evacuates out a "fake" Cera in order to fool the media into believing they actually rescued him. The movie ends with Cera lying desolate in the trench, his death inevitable.
-Julian