Though curious, the boys were too frightened by the mythical boy-eating ogres said to venture within. While growing up during the ’80s, the two often hung out near an abandoned tunnel. Set in Bosnia during 19 (like a pendulum, the time frame swings back and forth), and allegedly based upon a true story, the plot focuses upon the longtime friendship of Muslim Halil, and Serbian Milan. Though cloaked in explosive black humor, the serious anti-war message of this bitterly satirical and politically charged Yugoslav film cuts like shrapnel.
Through flashbacks that describe the pre-war lives of each trapped soldier, the film describes life in pre-war Yugoslavia and tries to give a view as to why former neighbours and friends turned on each other.įollowing the success of the movie, Bulić wrote a novel named Tunel that’s essentially an expanded version of his magazine article. The film’s screenplay is based on an article written by Vanja Bulić for Duga magazine about the actual event. The plot, inspired by real life events that took place in the opening stages of the Bosnian War, tells a story about small group of Serb soldiers trapped in a tunnel by a Bosniak force. Twelve years later, during the Bosnian civil war, Milan, who is trapped in the tunnel with his troop, and Halil, find themselves on opposing sides, fatefully heading toward confrontation. They never dare go inside, as they believe an ogre resides there.
Two young boys, Halil, a Muslim, and Milan, a Serb, have grown up together near a deserted tunnel linking the Yugoslav cities of Belgrade and Zagreb. In the hospital they remember their youth and the war. At the Belgrade army hospital, casualties of Bosnian civil war are treated.