''Demons of War'' (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Demony wojny według Goi'') is a 1998

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

Władysław Pasikowski Władysław Pasikowski (; born 14 June 1959 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He made his debut film, Kroll, in 1991, which was honored with the Polish Film Festival prize for his debut and the Special Jury Prize. ...

set during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

Plot

After the

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

is occupied by the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-led (IFOR) Implementation Force. In February 1996, a unit of Polish IFOR troops from the 6th Airborne Brigade detains and releases three foreign mercenaries in

Srebrenica Srebrenica ( sr-cyrl, Сребреница, ) is a town and municipality located in the easternmost part of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a small mountain town, with its main industry being Salt mine, salt mining a ...

, before they can be executed by a Bosnian mob. The Polish unit is led by Major Edward "Edek" Keller ( Bogusław Linda). Soon later, Keller is under investigation for insubordination and for clashes with the Bosnian militia and foreign mercenaries. The investigation is led by two arriving officers -

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Czacki (

Olaf Lubaszenko Olaf Sergiusz Linde-Lubaszenko (born 6 December 1968)Olaf Lubaszenko
at the Polish Internet Movie Database

) and Major Czesław Kusz (Tadeusz Huk), who will replace Keller as the commanding officer of the battalion on 1 March. The investigation comes at a sensitive time for Polish forces, as the Polish government tries to become a member of NATO. Keller maintains command of the unit, until his commission ends. Upon Czacki and Kusz's arrival, the unit receives a distress call from a downed Norwegian helicopter. Keller assembles his unit for a search and rescue mission to the downed chopper. However, his mission is rejected by the IFOR command. Despite the order, Keller ignores it and goes on with the mission. After locating the helicopter, members of the crew are found dead. Keller and the unit goes after the militia that killed the helicopter crew. The unit manages to locate a group of twenty Bosnian militia fighters, that are led by Skija (Slobodan Custic), a foreign mercenary. The militia is also holding two captives, a young French female journalist named Nicol (Aleksandra Niespielak) and a male Bosnian press representative named Dano Ivanov (Denis Delić). Keller, himself, manages to stealthily kill one of the militiamen and rescue the captives. The unit then heads for a helicopter extraction, while the militia discovers that someone killed one of their fighters. Skija sends his men to hunt them down and locate an important missing videotape, that was held by Ivanov. During extraction, the unit's helicopter is shot down before landing. Immediately, the unit is ambushed by the militia and several troops are wounded. The unit manages to eliminate some of the fighters and break out. After the engagement, some of the Polish soldiers argue with Keller that they are just a peacekeeping force and wish not to fight. However, Keller manages to keep them in line. The unit continues on foot and then establishes camp at a farm. There, Keller and the unit discover that Ivanov was in possession of videotape that the militia is trying to acquire. According to Nicol, the tape shows a mass execution of a Bosnian village ordered by the Bosnian Prime Minister. The next morning, Ivanov kills one of Keller's soldiers and escapes the camp. As the unit heads for their base, they are ambushed yet again by the militia and Keller is forced to give up the important videotape. Keller and his unit are spared by the militia, and then go after Skija and the militia, who are trying to burn down the Gypsy village where Keller and his unit had established camp earlier. Keller and his unit attack the militia at the village. Keller eventually confronts Skija and it is revealed that Ivanov promised to bribe one of Keller's officers for the videotape. Keller then kills Skija after being saved by Kusz. After arriving at the base, the cost and pain of warfare takes a toll on the unit. It is also revealed that the unit retrieved the videotape, and Ivanov was actually in possession of a Polish pornography tape. Keller is then relieved of his command, and Kusz takes control of the Polish battalion. Before heading back to Poland, Keller gives the tape to the French journalist Nicol. The film closes with Keller sitting on the plane with several coffins of dead soldiers from his unit.

Awards

*Wanda Zeman:

Polish Film Awards Polish Film Award, or Eagle ( pl, Polska Nagroda Filmowa, „Orzeł”) is a film awards ceremony given annually since 1999, with the first event held on 21 June, by the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers (KIPA). Since 2003 they are given ...

(nominee) - best editing (1999) *Paweł Edelman:

(nominee) – best cinematography (1999) *Marcin Pospieszalski:

(nominee) – best score (1999)

External links

* {{IMDb title, id= 0144164, title=Demony wojny według Goi 1998 films Polish war drama films 1990s Polish-language films Bosnian War films Films directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski Yugoslav Wars in fiction 1990s war drama films 1998 drama films