For lack of a rope…?
Well, depending of course on the context. Here the rope is needed not to win or lose a war but to retrieve a corpse from a well. The corpse being but one of thousands upon thousands of casualties in this particular conflict: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars
And this conflagration was particularly complex. At least from the perspective of American foreign policy. It didn’t have much to do with securing cheap labor or natural resources or markets. Or, rather, less to do with that than, say, ethnic cleansing. There were the Serbs, the Croats and the Albanians. Some Christian, some Muslim. Some nationalists, some separatists.
But once all Yugoslavians. No doubt the origins of the conflict are buried deep in the history of the Balkins: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans#The_Balkans
Having to do with, among other things, ethnicity, God and [of course] power.
And talk about conflicting goods. You tell me who were the good guys and bad guys. Here in America the bad guys were generally thought to be the Serbs. But at the time I knew a woman at work who was a Serb. And her rendition of things was nothing at all like the “general consensus”. In any event there were lots and lots of objectivists on both all sides of this particular hell on earth.
And then there was this part: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars#War_crimes
The film also explores the different reactions to the horrors of war. Often differentiated by gender. Sophie reacts to the brutality by emotionally exposing her own intolerance to it. Mambru on the other hand is more cynical, detached. We do what we can to minimize the pain and suffering but you don’t let it overwhelm you. It is what it is. You live in the moment.
Also, one of factors pointed to in films like this is humor. How much is allowed? How dark must it be?
IMDb
After the public screening of the film during the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2015 (director’s fortnight) at Cannes Festival, on the 16th of May 2015, the director and actors present (Benicio Del Toro, Melanie Thierry) received a ten minutes standing ovation.
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Perfect_Day_(2015_film
trailer: youtu.be/hv3FTkOXWzg
A PERFECT DAY [2015]
Written in part and directed by Fernando León de Aranoa
[b]Mambrú [of the corpse tied to a rope in the well]: Come on stinky, hang in there. You can make it.
[the rope breaks]
Mambrú: Fat fuck.
…
Mambru: He didn’t go hungry in the war.
Damir: It might be his glands. They’re called glands, right? Thyroid does not produce enough hormones so body does not assimilate fat. Glands. My brother told me that.
Mambru: Yeah, your brother is a doctor?
Damir: No, a fatso.
…
Mambru: What are they laughing at?
Damir: He’s just saying funny things, you know.
Mambru: Yeah, I can tell that.
Damir: Ah, it’s normal here. This area is famous for that. Yoghurt and sense of humor.
…
B: Mr. Cow. Is it to the left or to the right?
Sophie: You’re asking the cow?
B: Let’s go.
Sophie: Are we turning around?
B: RPGs. It’s all here in my logbook.
Sophie: What are you doing?
B: I’m looking it up.
Sophie: Mining protocol says to turn around.
B [sarcastically]: Mining protocol. Don’t believe everything you read in mining protocol. They write that stuff in Geneva. They’ve never seen a mine in their lives in Geneva. Cows, yes, plenty of cows but none with mines around 'em.[/b]
Guess what he does?
[b]Sophie [looking down at the corpse]: He’s gigantic. Is he from the village?
Mambru: No. They brought this guy from somewhere else.
Sophie: I thought they do it with animals.
Mambru: Not in war. Nobody throws an animal in a well. Wasted food.
…
Sophie: For how long has he been in the well?
B: 12 hours. 10, maybe. So what’s our expert say?
Sophie: We have to get it out and clean the well. In 24 hours, it won’t matter what we pour in there. We’ll have to seal it.
B: We’ll get the blue helmets to help. At least this one’s in one piece. They usually chop it up, you know. It speeds up the decay. It’s disgusting, but there’s a good side to it. It…it gets easier to get 'em out of there you know, when they’re, when they’re in chunks.
…
Sophie [reading from a phamplet]: “International humanitarian law as established by the Geneva convention prohibits article 55 using environmental modification techniques with hostile aims in order to protect the health of the population during wartime.”
U.N. Official: I appreciate the reminder, Ms. Richard but that article, as you correctly stated refers only to international armed conflicts.
Sophie: Well, that’s true, sir but neither of us has a Bosnian accent.
U.N. Official: Our passports do not make this an international conflict despite your insistence. Your request is duly noted but leave it to the military to establish priorities during wartime.[/b]
Guess what she tells him? That the corpse in the well is mined. Big mistake.
[b]Sophie: What about the fat guy?
Mambru: Fat guy stays, we leave.
Sophie: But there will be an epidemic.
Mambru: Maybe. But with any luck, I’ll be gone by then.
Sophie: Okay, beautiful.
Mambru: Not our problem anymore. They said not to touch it.
…
Sophie: Three what?
Mambru: Nothing. [/b]
Three out of three not three out of ten.
[b]Mambru: Well…You look different from the last time I saw you.
Katya: Sure, I’m dressed.
Mambru: That’s right. You are dressed. But, uh…your hair was different.
Katya: My head is what was different.
…
Damir: Uh, he asked me why we need the rope for, so I explained him. And he told me that if somebody throws man in a well he probably was no Saint and it’s better to leave him there. Never touch dead people, he says.
B [grabs some rope and brings it to the shop keeper]: How much? How much? Money. How much?
Damir: Uh, he says that, uh they need rope for hangings.
B: He’s… he’s kidding, right?
Damir: I don’t know, uh… Sense of humor is bit different in this area.[/b]
Bottom line: no rope. Later in the car…
[b]Damir: Difficult to know. Many problems here. Maybe they’re enemies and they don’t want you to remove body from well. Or maybe they put it there.
B: You think?
Damir: Could be. You know, things are complicated. Whatever you think… It’s possible here. Or maybe you are foreigner and that’s why they don’t sell you rope. Many people hate foreigners because they come with war. You remind them that everything is bad here. You know, the bombs, the deaths and so they hate you for that.
…
B: What’s that sign saying?
Damir: “UN convoy, stay…
[B floors the accelerator]
Damir: …back.”
B: You see the size of that escort? Military target. They’re taking meat to the refugees. You might as well paint a bull’s-eye on your chest. The further away you get from these guys, the better.
…
Katya: Aren’t we going back to the base?
Mambru: Yeah, but first we’re gonna get our friend out of the well.
Katya: You’re not allowed.
Mabru: Says who?
Katya: The United Nations. They said you can’t do it.
Mambru: I don’t take orders from them. I’m not wearing a helmet.
Katya: It was just explained to you by an official. Who do we need to get for you to understand?- Butros-ghali?
Mambru: Yeah. Butros butros-ghali. I want him to come here and explain to me why the hell we can’t get the body out of that well.
…
B: Welcome to Konopac, the Rope Capital of the World. Population: 5. I’m B, I’ll be your tour guide this afternoon and I’m pleased to be with you on this lovely day.
…
B [seeing Katya for the first time]: Shit, where did you get her? Models Without Borders?
…
Mambru: That’s the rope? Our rope?
Nikola: Nikola no lie.
Mambru: Nikola no lie, but Nikola no say the rope was tied to a big snarling dog either.
Nikola: I say I take you to rope and rope is there.
B: Kid is right. The rope is there. And it’s perfect.
…
Mambru: Wait, Sophie. Don’t turn around.
Sophie: What?
Mambru: Look at me. Look at me. Don’t turn around. It’s okay.
Sophie: What…
Mambru: Look at me. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here…
[she looks around]
Mambru: Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!
…
B: Cow?
Mambru: Cow.
…
Mambru [throwing Katya’s pen near the cow]: Go get it. If you don’t blow up we keep driving.
…
Mambru: How are you doing?
Sophie: I can’t stop thinking about them. The 3 of them. I imagine them together in that house.
Mambru: Forget them. They’re gone.
Sophie: What are we going to do?
Mambru: Nothing. We keep going. Don’t think about it. You’ll end up going home. Forget what’s happened or what’s gonna happen. Focus on what’s happening now. The rest doesn’t exist here. Maybe back home…but not here.
…
Mambrú: B, I have a girlfriend.
B [of Katya]: She’s hot. You had a thing with her before. It’s a relapse. It’s like smoking again. Totally understandable. And what if she writes a terrible report about us, we gotta go home. What then? Who helps the people, then? Uh? Have you ever think about that? No. You’re selfish. You gotta fuck her. For the Bosnian people. Make a sacrifice. For the humanitarian cause. She won’t say no. Hey, hey! I’m serious.
…
B: Mambru, wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Mambru, follow the granny. Follow the granny. Trust me, follow the granny.
…
B: You know, maybe I should be moving along somewhere. Maybe Katya was right. I should find a wife and have 2 and half kids. Settle down.
Mambru: Fuck all that. This is your home. I mean…wherever people need your help, B. That’s your family. The family that waits for you. Misses you. How many people can say they are missed by people they’ve never met before, huh? Not many.
B: Not many.[/b]
Then the sheer absurdity of it all…
[b]U.N. Official: You must abandon the extraction of that corpse immediately. It could be mined.
Sophie: But it’s not.
Mambru: That’s a mistake. We’ve searched that well inside out. There are no explosives in there. It’s all clear.
U.N. Official: Well, you may not be aware of it, sir, but this is a red zone. There’s been some changes of jurisdiction and we handed everything over to the local authorities. So mined or not, removing that dead body is illegal.
Sophie: I can’t believe this. It’s a basic sanitary service. I mean, with all due respect, sir it wouldn’t matter if it were a pig.
U.N. Official: Abandon the extraction immediately. You need a judge present to do what you’re doing.
Mmabru: A judge?
U.N. Official: Yes, a judge. The area is now under civil jurisdiction. It’s all here in the peace agreements. We must all respect procedure.
[they cut the rope and back down into the well the “fat fuck” goes]
Sophie: Can’t you make an exception? The people here need water.
U.N. Official: You might be generating a conflict.
Sophie: But there already is a conflict here. If we do not clean the water, we won’t need 1 judge we’ll need 20 judges.
U.N. Official: We cannot make any exceptions, ma’am. It’s all written in the peace agreements and it must be respected by all parties in conflict. It’s very simple. You cannot touch dead bodies.
Sophie: You do nothing here! United Nothing! You’re nothing!
U.N. Official: I understand your reasoning but there’s nothing else we can do. We understand that your work is very important here. Remember, we are on the same side.
…
Mambru: I thought you wanted that ball.
Nikola: I need money.
Mmabru: What for?
Nikola: To go and see my parents in Donovich. I have a friend. I pay, he takes me where they are. I have $40, only need 10 more.
Mambru: You can’t do that.
Nikola: You pay, you go.
Mambru: You can’t. It’s too dangerous.
Nikola: Not dangerous. You pay, all is possible here.
Mambru: You can’t do that…
Nikola: Yes I can.
Mambru: Here’s a $100. On one condition. You take your grandfather on this trip.[/b]