Film / Demons of War

Demons of War (Polish Demony wojny wg Goi^note Demons of War by Goya) is a 1998 Polish war film, set in the aftermath of the Bosnian War.

After the Bosnian War, Bosnia and Herzegovina is occupied by the IFOR Implementation Force. In February 1996, a unit of Polish IFOR troops detains and releases three foreign mercenaries, before they can be executed by a mob. Since the action is seen as a case of insubordination and breach of protocol, the commander of the unit, Major Keller, is put under investigation. At his military base a duo of army investigators arrives: Lieutenant Czacki and Major Czesław Kusz, who will replace Keller as the commanding officer of the battalion on 1 March. The investigation comes at a sensitive time for Polish forces, as the Polish government tries to become a member of NATO. Keller maintains command of the unit, until his commission ends.

On the day of Czacki and Kusz's arrival, the unit receives a distress call from a downed Norwegian helicopter. Against clear and repeated orders to stand down, Keller ignores them and assembles an unit for a search and rescue mission to the downed chopper. Other than hastly picked volunteers, Czacki and Kusz join the unauthorised mission to make a first-hand report on Keller's continuous insubordination and endangment of the military personel, with a ploy to arrest him the next day, when his command will be over.

Things get way more complicated after the squad reaches the crash site in the mountains.

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Demons of War contain examples of:

• Army of Thieves and Whores: Skija's outfit can barely be called a militia. That doesn't make them any less dangerous.
• Aside Glance: When dropping a particularly cheesy line about how maybe the military uniform stands for something more than just being a soldier, Tadeusz Huk (major Kusz) looks directly at the camera and tilts his head.
• Bittersweet Ending: It's literally one step from an outright Downer: Almost entire squad gets killed, Keller is going home with heavy charges that at best get him kicked out of the military and at worst end in a life sentence, spending his entire flight back to Poland in a plane with nothing but the coffins of his own men; Skija escapes the final skirmish and will probably never be caught or put on trial; the village gets burned anyway. The only bright spot is the execution tape reaching the media and MAYBE ending with the main villains in Hague. Maybe.
• Blown Across the Room: The final skirmish has two of the Skija's men sent flying by gunfire.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Right in the opening scene Keller, without any doubt or hesitation, decides to do the morally good thing, rather than follow his strict orders of non-engaging. Thus, he's not only a Military Maverick but also a man of principles, rather than regulations.
  • Houdini gets one at the airport, hauling contraband and a huge Porn Stash in the middle of taking his new CO and a military prosecutor from the plane to the nearby military base. And having guts and cunning to not only explain himself, but also make it look like an innocent thing.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The Porn Stash. Houdini uses a tape he hide earlier to switch it with the tape from the execution.
  • The tape with executions, being the real reason why Skija is after Keller and his men.
  • The action takes place in the tail end of February '96, which was a leap year, extending Keller's command by one more day.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • The mercenary from the opening scene comes back later to bite Keller's ass.
  • Cichy stays silent for all the time just to drop the bomb upon Keller's arrest that it's February 29th and Keller is still legally in command for the next 24 hours.
• Chekhov's Skill: Houdini didn't get his nickname for nothing. He does a bunch of sleight-of-hand tricks throughout the story - some for fun, some to save his skin.
• Cold Sniper: Cichy, who barely emotes throughout the whole film, with the only thing he really feels being the recoil of his gun.
• Combat Pragmatist: Cichy, who casually assigns targets to Czacki, an Ensign Newbie, based on his lack of skill and probability of hitting. He has nothing against shooting people In the Back and killing in general, being completely unphased by combat.
  Czacki: The hell you're saying? Why I'm supposed to kill [those] three people?!
  Cichy: (nonchalantly) Because they are the closest. You won't hit the other ones, sir.
• The Corruptible: Biniek overhears how much money Ivanov proposes for the tape and thus, the seed is planted...
• Deconstruction: Of Military Maverick guy. Despite being a competent commander, Keller performs an unauthorised mission that gets 7 men killed, a chopper destroyed, leaves two injured, and on top of it all, he faces a DOUBLE trial back in the county for insubordination. Bringing back the tape with execution is just not enough to justify any of this.
• Desk Jockey/Ensign Newbie: Czacki is a military prosecutor with zero combat experience.
• Dirty Coward: The moment he's faced by actual military that have a personal reason to hunt him down, Skija turns tails.
• A Father to His Men:
  • Keller is ordered to stand down when a chopper carrying his men is shot down over enemy territory. In response, he gets volunteers from his unit, takes whole responsibility for the mission (while already being in the process of being discharged from command for his unsobordination) and goes into the sortie himself to find his men or at least bring their bodies back.
  • Then again, he let his own men get high as kites in Syria a few years earlier, so they've stepped on mines. It is suggested he did that on purpose, first allowing them to get scot-free on drug possession and then just setting them up to die during a patrol as a form of punishment.
• Fake Static: Invoked by Keller, who claims that the printed fax with a written order to stand down he just received from the Norwegian HQ is impossible to read and curls the paper into a ball without even looking at it. Of course, nobody present is buying such a blatant lie, but he still needs an official reason why he ignored said order and before next copy is received, he's already in the transport chopper.
• Fast-Roping: From a transport chopper!
• For the Evulz: Skija and his band are explicitly noted as doing the whole Rape, Pillage, and Burn for their own amusement.
• Frontline General: The squad comes with two majors. Usually, such force is commanded by a single lieutenant. Justified, as Keller is a notorious Military Maverick who will be relieved from his post in just a few days anyway, making it his last dance and abusing his current position to get things done, while Kusz is collecting evidence against Keller for the incoming military court.
• Gangsta Style: The merc holds Keller at a gunpoint this way.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: THE most iconic scene of the film is Keller's chewing out Johnny for his breakdown.
  Keller: This is not a water gun. You will kill or be killed.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Serbian minister, who doesn't affect the plot directly and only shows up in the very finale, but whose past actions are instrumental to the ongoing plot.
• Greed: Biniek's main motivation for betrayal is a huge pile of money offered for delivering the tape back to the Serbians.
• Halfway Plot Switch: Almost literally, since it happens a minute before middle of the running time. The plot turns from a rescue mission of a downed helicopter to a Trapped Behind Enemy Lines scenario, combined with attempt to protect and deliver evidence of an ethnic cleansing.
• Heroic BSoD: Johnny's breakdown after being caught in a firefight, watching Max being shot and Boruń badly wounded.
• Hero Insurance: Invoked by Kusz, as he jokingly points out Keller will once again get away with all the bullshit he pulled due to heroically rescuing two VIPs in a swift action behind enemy lines, offering just enough cushion to save his ass for insubordination. Right after saying so, the chopper landing to retrieve the squad gets blown to pieces by Skija's men and the soldiers are caught in a crossfire from an ambush, which makes them Trapped Behind Enemy Lines, with ever-increasing body count. By the end of the story, the trope is completely subverted, as Keller is pretty much guaranteed to be drummed out of the military after getting almost all of his men killed, along with breaching just about every regulation there was.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Czacki. While it is used for few Lawful Stupid jokes on his behalf, in the same time the man won't take a bribe, won't betray and won't give away the tape, even if that means sacrificing his own life to do so.
  [After being offered a bribe that could easily set him and the rest of the squad]
  Czacki: (in a dreamy tone) I could finish my house construction... It's been stuck half-finished ever since my father-in-law died.
  Johnny: I could buy myself the best Ibanez guitar... What do I tell him?
  Czacki: (nods to Johnny with a finger to get closer, whispering) You tell him, Private, that we are officers of the Polish Army. And that we can't be bought.
• The Last Dance: Knowing that his days in command, and maybe even in the military, are counted, Keller decides to organise a rescue mission against strict orders not to intervene.
• Last-Name Basis: The story takes place in the military, so it's a given, even if most of the characters go under nicknames. Even then, Lieutenant Czacki stands out, because he's never mentioned by his first name, and we never learn what it even is.
• Lawful Stupid: Invoked as the main liability and valour of Czacki, when he's given the conspicuous tape for storage.
  Keller: Lieutenant, you are the most stupid and the most honest. Guard it with your life, sir.
• Leave No Survivors: Cichy's solution after flanking part of Skija's group. He gives a strange look to Czacki when he's reluctant to shoot.
• Manly Tears: Plenty of it
  • Johnny is in complete mess after Max dies and they are stranded behind enemy lines.
  • When Boruń dies, Bor does his very best to pretend he just has something in his eyes.
  • In the final monolougue Houdini can't hold his tears.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Cichy, which means "Quiet". A very fitting nickname for a Cold Sniper.
  • Houdini, who is the company's scrounger and also very good with Sleight of Handiness.
• Military Maverick: Keller's main characteristic is his utter disregard for HQ commands. The film opens with him being discharged for his insubordination. He's also a massive deconstruction of the archetype itself, as the story is examining all the pitfalls of such behaviour from a commander. Ultimately, his decisions and actions eventually lead to getting most of his squad killed.
• No Range Like Point-Blank Range:
  • In the final skirmish, Keller shots one of the mercs with a SVD rifle at less than 5 meters. While still carrying his revolver in the holster.
  • Justified with Cichy, who ends up badly wounded and can't exactly get his service pistol, so he sticks to his sniper rifle at a distance suitable for a brawl.
• Nobody Here but Us Birds: Keller quickly realises something is up when the forest around him starts to "sing", despite those being genuine bird calls.
• Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Houdini smugly invokes this verbatim to Biniek when being searched for illegal contraband.
• Number Two: Ziarno, Keller's aide and second in command, pretends to be a reasonable bureaucrat citing regulations, but in reality he fully supports Keller and just plays a role for the sake of appearances.
• Oh, Crap!: Keller's face after realising what the bird calls really are.
• Only in It for the Money: The Polish merc figthing for whoever pays best. Keller can barely keep himself from shooting the scum he just rescued from a lynch.
• Only Known by Their Nickname:
  • Johnny's surname is Jankowski^note Jankowski is derived from given name Jan (John), so it's in-universe Gratuitous English, and his given name is never mentioned at all. Doesn't matter, because everyone address him with his nick.
  • Houdini (actual surname: Moraczewski) eventually is called by his nick even by Kusz, who initially used his rank and surname.
  • We never learn Cichy's actual surname - his uniform patch is always covered by something, deliberately so. While Cichy is a relatively common surname in Poland, it would be just too much of a coincidence for a Cold Sniper to be named like that.
  • Max. No name^note Maksymilian is extremely rare name in Poland and being old-timey, too, while Max is how you would name a dog, no surname, no nothing.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Cichy is visibly scared when they are pinned down in the mountain hut. It's probably the only time when he shows any real emotions, which is enough for Keller to realise they stand no chance and he calls for a cease-fire.
• Outside-Context Problem: Keller prevents a lynch on bunch of (guilty as hell) mercs. To stop the mob he orders Cichy to "silence them", so Cichy opens fire in the air over the crowd. It's put under investigation as opening fire on civilians and a massive breach of conduct.
• Precision F-Strike: Two, both notably harsh in the original Polish, as they completely break military protocol and are incredibly crude, making them somewhat Lost in Translation.
  Keller: (when Czacki tries to be an Obstructive Bureaucrat) Mr Prosecutor sir, get the fuck out.
  • For a movie dropping Cluster F-Bomb in every other scene, one particular is a true bomb from Cichy (a plutonowy, which is NATO's OR-4) to Czacki (lieutenant), skipping all the proper wording when addressing the officer. This is one of two moments when Cichy emotes throughout the entire story.
  Czacki (being ordered by Kusz to shoot In the Back three men): Fuck orders like that...
  Cichy (suddenly getting angry, and talking in an informal way, ignoring rank): Fuck what you want, but kill them first, or we won't get out of this forest.
• Product Placement: And HOW! The most blatant one is the long shot on pack of West cigaretts and this line
  Soldier in the casino: Take Źrodlana^note A brand of vodka, it doesn't give a hangover
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Invoked few times by various characters. Keller rescues Nicole from being chain-raped and during the finale, Skija's men first rape one of the Gypsy women, then kill her once done with her - as if everything they did up until that point didn't make them evil enough.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: With all his problems, Keller is still a competent officer, mounting an unauthorised rescue effort, even if it means adding extra charges to his uncoming court trial - because it's the right thing to do.
• Restricted Rescue Operation: The HQ explicitly forbids Keller mounting any kind of rescue operation into uncontrolled territory to not upset the status quo and the fragile ceasefire.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Five seconds after Biniek is revealed as a traitor, he gets shot in cold blood.
• Rewatch Bonus: Knowing Biniek is a traitor changes meaning of few scenes with him.
• Rules Lawyer: When Czacki starts questioning his decision to mount a rescue operation against the direct order from the HQ to not go, Keller cites his membership in the Blue Cross, Polish mountain rescue, thus being under an obligation to save and rescue people in mountains. Never mind that his legal mandate ends at Polish borders (specifically, the Tatra Mountains), and they are in Bosnia.
• Rule of Three: Keller and the mercenary meet three times. First time Keller gets rid of the merc by punching him off a bridge, second time the merc decks Keller right after explaining he will go to burn down the hovel the soldiers stationed in for a night. And on the third encounter Keller empties entire magazine into the merc's chest.
• Sleazy Politician: Ivanov, the Serbian deputy, which is even invoked verbatim by Cichy.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The survivors of the shot-down chopper were executed when Keller was still en route, making the rescue mission moot.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Biniek appears to succumb to PTSD in the final skirmish, being paralysed by fear. Subverted, as he's a traitor, so he simply doesn't want to shoot his new employers.
• "Shut Up!" Gunshot: In the opening sequence, Keller asks Cichy to "silence them" when an angry crowd is trying to lynch captured militiamen. Cichy opens fire from his assault rifle, aiming at the nearby wall and away from the lynching mob, instantly getting their attention. However, as far as the reports are concerned, Keller ordered to open fire on unarmed civilians, which got him into hot water, kickstarting the investigation by Czacki and getting replaced as a CO by Kusz.
• Sibling Team: The Boruń brothers. Since addressing them by surname doesn't really work, the older one goes as "Bor".
• Soldiers at the Rear: Houdini is a logistic's assistant and very proud of it.
• Smash Cut: After Houdini reveals he switched tapes, it goes directly to Ivanow playing the tape with geriatric porn to his boss and the Serbians realise how fucked they are now, with the tape still in hands of soldiers.
• Spotting the Thread: Kusz realises something is off about Biniek early on, but dismiss his suspicions. Which allows him to return as The Cavalry and kill the traitor in the finale.
• Stealth Pun: Lost in Translation, but still - it's a pun on both idiom and GROM special forces unit. "Grom" is a Polish word for "thunder".
  Keller: A thunder can strike from the sky.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Keller routinely decides to do the right thing, rather than stick to the orders he's given. After his orders and actions from the opening scene, he's already in the process of being relieved from command. For the rest of the story, he consistently keeps picking "good" over any other choice.
• Torches and Pitchforks: The opening has an angry crowd preparing to execute without a trial captured members of a milita. Thing is - the crowd is right and those guys deserve their punishment.
• Verbal Tic: Johnny's constant "man", ending most of his sentences.
• War Is Hell: The film is inspired by Goya's series of paintings about this theme. The very first scene doesn't beat the bush about it either, with the little girl all on her own rummaging through the burning ruins.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Czacki and Kusz go on the mission only to arrest Keller on the 1st of March, when his command will be formally over.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Max has barely any spoken lines and all we ever learn about him is that he wanted to buy his kids a husky dog with the money earned from the mission, which is only brought up posthumously.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Boruń could have stayed in the base and is repetitively asked by various characters to do so. Instead, he goes on the mission and is one of the first to die.

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