Redemption Street (2012) Ustanička ulica

Director: Miroslav Terzic
Writers: Gordan Kicic (idea), Djordje Milosavljevic
Stars: Gordan Kicic, Uliks Fehmiu, Rade Serbedzija

It has been years since the war ended. A young deputy prosecutor, Dusan, handling the investigation of war crimes, is assigned to investigate the formation of a paramilitary group. Quickly he comes to learn that this is a branch of the "First Pioneer's", a group which was operating on the battlefields in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, after which they disappeared without a trace. Dusan is determined to bring the case to a positive resolution in order to show his father, a famous retired law professor and to his boss, a senior war crimes prosecutor, that he is capable of the job. For Dusan, this becomes much more than a simple case; it becomes a matter of personal confrontation and conviction. No one expects the investigation will come too much and Dusan's associates feel he's destined to fail, until Dusan finds the unit's only surviving soldier, Micun, who is hiding from his past and trying to live peacefully and quietly. The encounter of Dusan and Micun changes their lives in unpredictable ways and directly affects their families and futures.

Ustanicka Ulica (Redemption Street) is a Serbian political thriller in the mould of The Secret in Their Eyes and The Lives of Others. Whilst it deals with the horrors of the Serbian war crimes of the 90's, it does so in a format which compares favorably with the best Hollywood thrillers.

A young prosecutor lawyer is called into his boss's office and given the job of resolving a still open investigation in to one of the war crimes. When the lawyer finds more than he, or others, had bargained for, things start to get complicated and nasty.

Redemption Street offers a solid thriller which does not sacrifice its greater theme of crime and punishment for the sake of cheap thrills. Direction and acting are first class and it can put Serbia's name firmly on the world cinema map.

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