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'Welcome to Sarajevo': Childhood shattered in a war zone
December 3, 1997
Web posted at: 4:13 p.m. EST (2113 GMT)From Reviewer Paul Tatara
(CNN) -- There's a strange dichotomy of feeling that's generated by Michael Winterbottom's new film, "Welcome to Sarajevo."
On the one hand, an impassioned movie about the 1992 ethnic cleansing of the capital city of Bosnia-Herzegovina is long overdue. Most Americans, more concerned with trying to ignore the conflict rather than consciously perceive its gruesome complexities, know little about the modern-day Holocaust that Sarajevo's citizens experienced during that horrid year and afterwards.
Then again, a movie that juxtaposes actual footage of sniper victims dying in the streets with actors performing what, I'm sure, they must honestly feel in their own hearts is bound to raise a few hackles. The movie is often devastating, but inadvertent exploitation is exploitation nonetheless. There are times when you feel that a straight documentary would have been a far more palatable and informative approach to the material.
The true story is based on a book written by British news correspondent Michael Nicholson, who wound up being so moved by the plight of a particular war orphan that he eventually adopted her and got her out of Bosnia. I don't want to suggest that this isn't a heartfelt piece of filmmaking (it very obviously is), but you're watching it in a movie theater, not a classroom or during a newscast, and when viewed in that context Winterbottom fails in a number of key ways.
Complete film trailer
A lot of screen time is taken up with following the day-to- day lives of a group of cocky, cynical TV journalists who are covering the siege for their respective home countries. Winterbottom wants to show these people's disgust with the lack of impact the massacre is having on the world's conscience, but the flippant tone he takes when writing dialogue for them can often leave you feeling confused as to what you're supposed to think about their approach to the job.
Surprisingly, there are more than a few laughs in the film, but this kind of desperate laughter is hard to pull off successfully. Not as overtly comic as "M*A*S*H," and not as solemn as something like "Platoon," the movie (to use the kind of tacky phrase that could very well have ended up in its dialogue) winds up shooting itself in the foot.
With the exception of Marisa Tomei, who gives it the college try but is simply too much of a starlet to be believable in this situation, all of the performances are right on target. Stephen Dillane plays Henderson, and he's as good as he can be, given the underwritten character he's trying to bring to life. The movie has a disjointed feel, with sardonic (and sometimes pretty tasteless) pop songs being intercut with actual news footage and re-creations of real events.
Scenes from the film 2M/52 sec./160x120
QuickTime movieThis jagged structure, though reasonably interesting, doesn't allow for much conventional character development. We never see Henderson growing into the kind of man who would risk everything to get a single child out of this hell and into a safe home; he's just suddenly doing it. The extremely dangerous situations that Henderson puts himself through to accomplish this small miracle, though, are often tense and riveting.
Emily Lloyd (who I'm glad to see again after a somewhat lengthy absence) and Kerry Fox also play weary, bedraggled journalists, but top supporting honors have to go to Woody Harrelson as Flynn, a showboating TV reporter who, in one memorable scene, literally strolls down the middle of a street during a sniper attack to drag a fresh victim into a doorway. Harrelson, in his sports coat, Bermuda shorts and week's growth of beard, looks worse for wear, but his unwavering stare suggests that he's a man who's simply had enough of the carnage. Then, while editing the footage, we see that he may very well have done what he did in order to secure the most exciting clip on that evening's newscast.
Harrelson is at his best, though, when sarcastically considering the world government's kid-gloves approach to handling this horrific situation. When informed by a British statesman that Sarajevo is the "13th most dangerous" place in the world, and, thus, cannot be helped for a while, Harrelson raises his hand and sheepishly asks if the city is currently sliding up or down on that scale.
The absurdity of ranking such carnage is at the heart of "Welcome to Sarajevo," and causes a real problem when trying to rank it as a film critic. Giving it a generic "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" cheapens the impact of the movie, but people have to be careful not to judge its merits simply on the basis of a powerful subject matter. This is a sharply photographed, well-acted mixed bag if ever there was one. It's also well worth your time to check it out.
"Welcome to Sarajevo" is loaded with actual bloodshed, and some of the street scenes can come close to turning your stomach. There's a little bit of profanity. This would be the perfect film to take high school students to help them understand that the world is not yet (and probably never will be) a completely safe place. The fact that these atrocities happened just a couple of years ago is bound to open some eyes. Rated R. 100 minutes.
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