Welcome to Sarajevo
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| Welcome To Sarajevo | |
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| Directed by | Michael Winterbottom |
| Produced by | 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 |
| Release date(s) | November 6, 1997 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Language | English, Bosnian |
| Budget | USD$ 9,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
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-Herzegovina or, in the words of the correspondents, "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. Their work permits them blunt and unobstructed views of the suffering of the people of Sarajevo. The situation changes when Henderson makes a report from an orphanage in which two hundred children live in desperate conditions.
With the help of American aid worker Nina (Marisa Tomei), Henderson tries to get the children into a shelter. At first, the getaway is threatened with failure when the bus with the children is stopped by Serbian militiamen and all the Muslim children are taken away. However, in the end, Henderson manages to smuggle the Bosniak girl, Emira (Emira Nušević), out of the country and adopts her.
[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 children by the Serbian forces and the sniping 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.
[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 International Cannes Film Festival. 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).
