Hunt for Justice (2005)

In the 1990's when age-old ethnic hatred gave rise to genocide in the Balkans, the powers that be seemed determined to turn a blind eye to these atrocities - until Canadian judge Louise Arbour (Wendy Crewson) was named Chief Prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal. Arbour investigated rape camps, witnessed the aftermath of "ethnic cleansing" and saw first hand, the displacement of two million citizens. With the help of her legal team and her translator, Arbour thwarted bureaucracy, issued secret indictments and sidestepped NATO in a gripping 3-year struggle to arrest and convict the war criminals responsible for the carnage, including former Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosev Amazon.com

International War Crime Prosecution

A well made for-TV drama by Canadian-German companies about bringing human rights despots in the former Yugoslavia to justice for their crimes against humanity. Wendy Crewson and Stipe Erceg give the best performances, but the rest of the cast performs well in this, at times, shocking expose of the crimes committed by Slobodan Milosevic and some of his political thugs.

This is not an Academy Award level production, but it's better than MANY other films I've seen. It shows the international political forces that were at work in the country that deterred other international criminal prosecutors from pursuing notorious Yugoslav officials who established concentration and rape camps and inhumanely sanctioned not only the execution-style killings of thousands of innocent civilians, including young children, the infirm, and the elderly but also the mass religious persecution and executions.

One of the strongest messages that the film conveys is the senseless, brutal crimes of inhumanity committed by hate-filled people -- from high-level politicians down through the military and police ranks to local vigilantes. Another strong message is that determined individual acts of courage in the face of political and personal opposition is necessary to reverse strong political, cultural and religious forces.

Although I am neither an historian nor an avid follower of international politics, I enjoyed the story on its own merits. Others who are better informed on the facts of the time and events portrayed in this movie can better comment on those aspects of this made-for-TV drama. September 23, 2008

Doesn't Quite Do Justice to its Subject

This is an earnest attempt to show how Canadian Judge Louise Arbour took charge of the prosecution for the Tribunal convened in the Hague in the 1990s to bring perpetrators of war crimes in the Serbo-Croatian conflict to justice. However this movie has none of the impact of "Judgment at Nuremberg." The acting is rather flat, and the action is too episodic to bring home the horror of what transpired on those killing fields.

Attempts are made to personalize the drama by introducing the character of an anguished, haunted Muslim translator whose wife was sent to the rape camps and killed. But somehow even this human interest story and the sight of forensics experts sifting through, trying to identify corpses, doesn't seem to lift this drama much above the level of a Canadian-BBC educational reenactment. It's all like the ping - ping of a tennis match, with the Arbour actress sending sharp, businesslike volleys across the net to the other side.

Still, even though this movie won't get you into the heart of the tragedy that unfolded in the Balkans, it is a summary of the head of the matter. And the tactics that the prosecution settled on have relevance to how the U.S. might deal with other tyrannies.

We see here how months of testimony against two of the major camp officials come to nothing when these commanding officers die and thereby pass beyond the reach of the law. Arbour then decides on an even bolder move. She decides to prosecute Slobodan Milosevic himself. Although legal under U.N. stipulations, this is an unprecedented move against a sitting President. However as we know (although the movie doesn't carry the action this far), the maneuver ultimately proved to be the downfall of Milosevic. This could have served to demonstrate to the U.S. how human rights violators, even current Heads-of-State, might be punished short of our entering into all-out combat situations in their countries. So this movie can serve as a good introductory lesson in how to enforce international law.
March 9, 2007

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

HUNT FOR JUSTICE is to be applauded for its intent to show the horrible war crimes committed during the Bosnian war. Justice Louise Arbour is certainly a person to admire as she did her best to bring Milosevic and other heinous officials to their just dessert. Wendy Crewson is fine in the lead role, her sensitivity and commitment evident; John Corbett is also very good as a British soldier who befriends her and helps her. William Hurt has a cameo as one of the generals opposing Arbour's efforts fearful of igniting more wars. More a history lesson than an entertaining movie, HUNT FOR JUSTICE is still viable entertainment. February 10, 2007

An Intrigue Drama from Life

HUNT FOR JUSTICE is a Canadian television drama that has made it to DVD and that is reason for gratitude for those who hunger for educational dramas that inform us about facts of current history that somehow get buried in the media. The film is not a Hollywood production, it relies heavily on footage from court files, but it also introduces to many of us the act of heroism of Louise Arbour in bringing about the trial of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Louise Arbour (veteran Canadian actor Wendy Crewson) is a Canadian judge appointed by NATO as the Chief War Crimes Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. The film begins in 1996 when Arbour travels to The Hague to face the political obstacles that are preventing the Tribunal to bringing to justice the war criminals in the war Yugoslavia has been waging in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia, a war that has gross evidence of crimes against humanity in the form of genocide, extermination camps, and other heinous abuses. The progress toward bringing the criminals to justice is hampered by generals (including one played by William Hurt) who fear a major World War if precautions against same are infringed upon. Arbour, with the keen help of her translator Pasko Odsak (Stipe Erceg), her staff including Keller (Heino Ferch) and the unexpected assistance from British Capt. John Tanner (John Corbett), forges ahead, focusing the impossible task of bringing all responsible parties to justice on three specific events. Two of the three top suspects are captured but during their trials each meets his end. This leaves only Slobodan Milosevic himself, and Arbour and her colleagues are successful in bringing the war criminal to justice in 1999.

There are several touching side plots employed in the telling of this well-documented tale, stories that make the point in history more personal. Some may find the film footage of corpses and prisoners and death camps too strong to watch, but they are necessary to bring home the purpose of the film. Wendy Crewson carries the power to drive the message home - the message that war crimes must never go unpunished. There is much current history to be learned from this film: writers Ian Adams, Riley Adams and M.A. Lovretta have condensed the information and made it dramatic as well. Director Charles Binamé balances the docudrama with the story progress, never forgetting that he has a tale of intrigue to tell as well. HUNT FOR JUSTICE is worth watching! Grady Harp, January 07
January 29, 2007

for those that like the genre

This was a made-for-TV film, but it wasn't below the quality of what one can see in a theater. It had no severe breaks where commercials would fit. If you like political intrigue works like Baldwin's "Crimson Tide," Stone's "JFK," or Crowe's "The Insider," then this will be for you. For us Americans who were delighting in 1990s, Internet-based prosperity, this will remind us that not everyone in the world was succeeding. The main character in this work is a woman, yet the cover implies that she is just one of many main characters. This may be sexist, an attempt to appease the mostly male audience that expects men to be leaders in international turmoils. One character was supposed to work for the UK, lived their most of his life, but had an American accent just like any other American at home. Again, this work is just for those who like this type of film. November 27, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...