Never Been Better

There is a Bosnian saying that in order to understand your own country you have to set out along the path of song. Born in Sarajevo, but now a Czech citizen, Ivana Miloševičová went to Bosnia and Herzegovina a decade after the end of the war to film a polyphonic portrait of a historically, socially, and politically divided country. _ In it we see Bosnian Muslims organise a mass funeral for the victims of war, firmly convinced that the Serbian murders remain unpunished. Orthodox Serbs gather to pay honour a monument to their modern-day martyrs. Croatians express pride in the firmness of their hearts. _ In this anti-nostalgic documentary musical a fundamental role is played by music: all passions and wrongs are concealed in the songs that each of these ethnic groups carries with them. They contain the resolve to be ready for battle. _ A Catholic priest explains that Bosnia is like the nettle: it stings, but it also heals. In his view, Bosnians are unpredictable, moody, and stubborn. One Sarajevo woman lost both her sons in the war; she gave birth to a third son, but she would never hesitate to again go out to defend her city. _ This starkly narrated film presents a brief montage of war reportage, followed by various encounters, where people relate differing accounts of individual events, consume spirits, and sing, waiting for one verse of a poem to be read: I gaze all night into the sky, but nothing, nothing do I understand.