Welcome to Sarajevo
| Welcome To Sarajevo | |
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| Directed by | Michael Winterbottom |
| Produced by | Damian Jones Channel Four Films Miramax |
| Written by | Frank Cottrell Boyce |
| Starring | Stephen Dillane Woody Harrelson Marisa Tomei Goran Višnjić Emily Lloyd Kerry Fox |
| Music by | Adrian Johnston |
| Distributed by | Miramax Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | November 6, 1997 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English, Serbo-Croatian |
| Budget | USD$ 9,000,000 |
Welcome to Sarajevo is a British war film from 1997. It is directed by Michael Winterbottom. The screenplay is by Frank Cottrell Boyce and is based on the book Natasha's Story by Michael Nicholson.
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[edit] Synopsis
In 1992, ITN reporter Michael Henderson (Stephen Dillane) travels to Sarajevo, the besieged capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina or, in the words of a UN soldier, "the 14th worst place on earth". He meets American star journalist Jimmy Flynn (Woody Harrelson) on the chase for the most exciting stories and pictures. Henderson and Flynn have friendly arguments and differences while individually reporting for their respective news agencies. They stay at the Holiday Inn, which was one of the more popular hotels in Sarajevo, filled with journalists. ITN hires Risto (Goran Višnjić) to be their translator along the way. Their work permits them blunt and unobstructed views of the suffering of the people of Sarajevo. Daily bombings and sniper attacks on the civilians of Sarajevo are only a fraction of what the crew endures while in Sarajevo. The situation changes when Henderson makes a report from an orphanage located on the front lines (Ljubica Ivezic Orphanage) in which two hundred children live in desperate conditions. Shockingly, the daily siege of Sarajevo, on which Henderson reports, does not make the lead story back home. Afterwards, he decides to make the orphanage his lead story, hoping it would get much attention as it is already in a desperate state.
With the help of American aid worker Nina (Marisa Tomei), Henderson tries to get some of the children out of the city, and out of the country. They want to find homes for some of these children outside the country, until the war is over. At first, the getaway is threatened with failure when the bus is constantly harassed at Serbian checkpoints. One particular scene that sticks out is when the bus filled with the children is stopped by Serbian militiamen. One Serbian soldier walks onto the bus with a big gun, and reads a list of a few children's names that are on the bus, and orders them to get off. Nina desperately tries to explain to this soldier that they have the paperwork for all of these children and that she is responsible for their safety. The soldier threatens to kill everyone on the bus, and continues to read off a list of names. It's important to mention however, that all of the names he read were the names of only Serbian children/orphans. This brings panic and fear as no one can stop the Serbs from taking these kids off the bus and onto their convoys. The Serbs leave with the Serbian kids and the bus was allowed to continue. However, in the end, Henderson manages to smuggle a Bosniak girl, Emira (Emira Nušević), out of the country. Taking Emira with him was an illegal act, since neither of Emira's parents signed her over to Henderson. Since her parents rarely ever seen Emira, the Orphanage director, Mrs. Savic, decides to sign off for Emira, since Mrs. Savic has been like a real mother to her. Henderson met Emira back when he first started doing reports on the orphanage. It was back then that he foolishly promised her that he'd take her to London with him.
When Henderson finally makes it to London with Emira, he starts to feel like he escaped hell. This period of tranquility does not last long. He receives a heartbreaking phone call from Flynn in Sarajevo, who tells Henderson that Emira actually has a mother. Not only that, but her mother suddenly wants Emira back in her life for good. Emira has slowly adapted to her new life in London and tells Henderson she does not want to go back to Sarajevo.
Henderson decides to go back to Sarajevo to settle these issues. The city now is worse than before. Not only has the siege continued, but more internal organized crime began to rise. He meets once again with Risto, who now, isn't working as a translator. Risto is now a soldier in the Bosnian Army defending Sarajevo. Risto and Henderson desperately try to find Emira's mother, but get caught up in dangerous situations. Finding Emira's mother gets even harder once Risto is shot and killed by a sniper while in his home. Henderson eventually meets up with Zeljko, Drazen Sivak, who was once the head of the concierge desk at the Holiday Inn. Zeljko is now an ordinary citizen, and decides to help Henderson because he would constantly give Zeljko cigarettes while in the hotel, which according to him, "were very [useful]."
They eventually find Emira's mother. She gives them good reasons for wanting Emira back; however, she decides to let Henderson adopt Emira, after her phone call with Emira does not go well.
It's important to mention that during the middle of the movie, one of Risto's old friends, named Harun,(who is a musician/cellist) said that he would play a concert live on the streets, but only when Sarajevo becomes the #1 worst place on Earth. He claimed that "the people will die happily listening to my music." When he had introduced this idea in the middle of the movie, Sarajevo was only the 14th worst place on Earth. The movie ends with Harun doing what he promised. Harun is on a big hill overlooking Sarajevo playing his cello, with hundreds of people coming to watch him. Henderson and Flynn both attend his concert. Children from the orphanage who did not leave Sarajevo also attend. Henderson gives Harun a sad smile because Harun delivered on his promise. Sarajevo will remain under siege.
The closing credits say that Emira still lives in Britain, which implies that it is based on a true story.
[edit] Cast
- Stephen Dillane - Michael Henderson
- Woody Harrelson - Flynn
- Marisa Tomei - Nina
- Emira Nusevic - Emira
- Kerry Fox - Jane Carson
- Goran Višnjić - Risto Bavic
- James Nesbitt - Gregg
- Emily Lloyd - Annie McGee
- Igor Dzambazov - Jacket
- Gordana Gadzic - Mrs. Savic
- Juliet Aubrey - Helen Henderson
- Drazen Sivak - Zeljko
- Vesna Orel - Munira
- Davor Janjić - Dragan
- Vladimir Jokanović - Emira's Uncle
[edit] Style
Michael Winterbottom portrays the events with brutal realism. In the opening sequence, there is a shooting at a wedding party. Other shocking sequences include the stopping of a bus, the kidnapping of orphaned Serbian children by the Serbian forces and the death-by-sniper of the interpreter and driver, Risto Bavić (Goran Višnjić).
Welcome to Sarajevo was the first feature film about the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Shot just a few months after the war on locations in Sarajevo and Croatia, the film uses real ruins and war debris to give the film a feeling of authenticity, and many scenes of the characters witnessing and reporting on street carnage were intercut with actual video footage of the events.
[edit] Soundtrack
Two widely known pieces of music were used in the film, among the others. The first one is Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. It was used in ironical sense, since in the background, real scenes of the siege of Sarajevo were shown, with people being wounded by bombs, blood everywhere on the streets etc. The second widely known piece is Adagio in G minor by Remo Giazotto, which is based on a fragment from a Sonata in G minor by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni and has been used in many films and advertisements. House of Love's "Shine On" (Creation, 1987) and Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored" (Silvertone, 1989) were among the hip and colorful English independent rock classics that contrasted sharply with the dark barbarism affecting the people of Sarajevo, in a sense continuing the use of the song in a war movie the way 1960s rock anthems were employed in such Vietnam War movies as Apocalypse Now or Platoon, but updating the anthems to those closer to the era the film is portrayed in.
[edit] Award Nominations
The film made its world premiere on May 9, 1997, at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[1] It was nominated for the Golden Palm and for the Golden Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival. It was awarded a "Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking" by the National Board of Review (USA) during the 69th National Board of Review Awards (1997).
[edit] References
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Welcome to Sarajevo". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4792/year/1997.html. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
[edit] External links
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