Welcome To Sarajevo
1997
Documentary footage of the horrific acts of 'ethnic cleansing' combines with the verite-styled story of a cohort of journalists torn between passively chronicling the atrocities and actively resisting them in this powerful film. An obsessive British reporter (Stephen Dillane) fights to keep the horrors of war alive in the minds .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Kerry Fox, Stephen Dillane |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Winterbottom |
| Genres | Drama |
loading...
Welcome To Sarajevo
Documentary footage of the horrific acts of 'ethnic cleansing' combines with the verite-styled story of a cohort of journalists torn between passively chronicling the atrocities and actively resisting them in this powerful film. An obsessive British reporter (Stephen Dillane) fights to keep the horrors of war alive in the minds of a public hungry for royal scandal, while an American colleague (Woody Harrelson) uses the conflict as a springboard to personal glory. WELCOME TO SARAJEVO, directed by Michael Winterbottom, was adapted by journalist Michael Nicholson from his memoir NATASHA'S STORY.
| Starring | Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Kerry Fox, Stephen Dillane, Emily Lloyd, Labina Mitevska, Juliet Aubrey, Kerry Shale, Goran Visnjic, James Nesbitt, Cesir Adi, Petar Arsovski, Senad |
|---|---|
| Director | Michael Winterbottom |
| Studio | FILM 4 |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 37 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 12 May 2008 Production year: 1997 |
| Format | DVD |
-
Critics' reviews (6)
View all -
This is a vigorously unsentimental treatment of love in a time of war — the Bosnian conflict — based on a true story in which TV reporter Michael Henderson (Stephen Dillane) — Michael Nicholson of ITN — decides to smuggle a young refugee girl out to Britain. The seedy hotel-based world of foreign correspondents is expertly evoked by director Michael Winterbottom, though Woody Harrelson's tough-talking American journalist manages to upstage even the conflict itself.
-
A fierce, polemical drama of the horrors of a civil war and a lack of politicial will among the Western powers that suddenly goes soft and manipulative; it is uneven, but very watchable.
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
12 out of 13 people found this review helpful
So moving
This film is very difficult to watch, and that is why you have to watch it. It shows the awfulness of what happened in Sarajevo without the cheesiness of Spielberg and gloss of other Hollywood films. It's real and raw. And it made me want to help victims of wars anyway I could. Its activism and a guilt trip all in one. The acting is superb.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
8 out of 11 people found this review helpful
A Tabloid Welcome to Sarajevo
An ITN news reporter (Stephen Dillane) and crew are sent to cover the war between Serbia and Bosnia and are based in besieged Sarajevo. His stories are constantly being bounced from the lead story notably by what is portrayed as a frivolous one, the divorce of the Duke & Duchess of York then by a more important story of the war, the discovery of Serbian concentration camps. By this time his interest has shifted to crusading for the relocation of the children in an orphanage situated on the front line. The story then shifts to his illegal adoption of one of the children. This constantly shifting focus, on the brutality of the war, on the reporting of the war then on the fate of the children caught up in the violence and finally to the reporter?s problems with the adoption of one child means that the film never fully captures our attention and thus never engages our full sympathy.
In addition the inclusion of star players Woody Harrelson and Marissa Tomei in roles that could have been played by stick figures has an even more disastrously distracting effect. One gets the distinct feeling that the inclusion of two prominent US stars was deliberately calculated in order to increase the prominence of the film in the international market.
The script is not deep enough to give even the lead actors much to work with although James Nesbitt in a bit part makes more impact than the rather lack lustre Stephen Dillane and some of the scenes with the children are moving. There is also some clever use of actual news footage interlaced into the film which works well and is probably the film?s one redeeming feature. -
News and features
View all
Capote screenwriter plays murdered journalist
- 15 Aug 2006
The furore that Angelina Jolie inspired by gazumping Jennifer Aniston for the part of Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart probably obscured the more intriguing issue of who would play the role of the murdered journalist in the adaptation. However, film fans can rest easy now that Paramount has announced that Dan Futterman, Capote screenwriter and Judging Amy star, will play the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. And the reason for the initial secrecy? Well, cult director Michael... Read more
-
More like this
View all
Related user collection
The Best Films Ever (75)
93.4% from 367 members
Buy from the LOVEFiLM shop
-
-
- Welcome To Sarajevo
- DVD: £11.93
Free Delivery - RRP £15.79 (you save: 24%)
Documentary footage of the horrific acts of 'ethnic cleansing' combines with the verite-styled story of a cohort of journalists torn between passively chronicling the atrocities and actively ... -