A Bullet in the Head (1990)

Directed by

Attila Bertalan

Genre

drama film

Country

Canada

Runtime

1h 28m

Rating

8.0 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wounded soldier is trapped behind enemy lines and struggles to survive. The film follows his ordeal, with all dialogue spoken in an invented language.

bleaktenseclaustrophobicexperimentalalienatingslow-burnfutilenightmarish

What happens

A Bullet in the Head (French: Une balle dans la tête) is a 1990 Canadian drama film directed by Attila Bertalan. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film centres on a soldier, wounded in war, who is struggling to survive after being trapped behind enemy lines. The film's dialogue is spoken entirely in an invented language. It was the first film ever selected as Canada's submission to the Academy Award competition for Best Foreign Language Film which was not in French, and one of just four such films overall alongside the later Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, Water, Eternal Spring. and The Things You Kill. Film historian Peter Cowie called it "a nightmarish fairytale about the absurdity and futility of war." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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