Name: Two Hours from London
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 52 min
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Michael Foot

Two Hours from London is a brilliant, passionate polemic about the war in the former Yugoslavia. The final film by Jill Craigie, it outlines the role played by Serbian nationalism in Yugoslavia's break-up, and how the opportunism of Serbia's president Slobodan Milosevic led to the worst genocide in Europe since the end of the Second World War.

When Two Hours from London was made in the mid-1990s, the prevalent view in the west, and certainly among the media and political class in the UK, was that the wars in the former Yugoslavia were the result of ancient ethnic hatreds. What the film shows is that the predominant cause of the conflict was the drive for 'Greater Serbia'. Far from being a civil war, the war in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina was an invasion by Serbia, which wanted to carve up large parts of Bosnia's territory for itself. 

If Two Hours from London has a fault, it is that it is too lenient on Croatia and its then president Franjo Tudjman. Tudjman's own drive for 'Greater Croatia' was also the cause of great bloodshed, including the Muslim-Croat war of 1993-4 - the one part of the Bosnian conflict that could justifiably be described as a civil war. But on almost every other count, Jill Craigie's film is a superb piece of documentary.

Its views may have been controversial at the time of its release, but they are now widely accepted - not least by the United Nations, which now views the Bosnian war as an international rather than a civil conflict.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Documentary about the outbreak of the war in former Yugoslavia.

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Two Hours from London

Photos

Cast1

User reviews2

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Box office

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed