Harrison's Flowers (2000)

When a Newsweek photojournalist disappears in war-torn Yugoslavia, his wife travels to Europe to find him.

Director:

Élie Chouraqui

Writers:

Isabel Ellsen (book), Élie Chouraqui (screenplay),

Stars:

Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andie MacDowell	...	Sarah Lloyd
Elias Koteas	...	Yeager Pollack
Brendan Gleeson	...	Marc Stevenson
Adrien Brody	...	Kyle Morris
David Strathairn	...	Harrison Lloyd
Alun Armstrong	...	Samuel Brubeck
Caroline Goodall	...	Johanna Pollack
Diane Baker	...	Mary Francis
Quinn Shephard	...	Margaux Lloyd
Marie Trintignant	...	Cathy
Christian Charmetant	...	Jeff
Gerard Butler	...	Chris Kumac, photojournalist
Scott Anton	...	Cesar Lloyd (as Scott Michael Anton)
Christopher Clarke	...	David
Dragan Antonic	...	Chetnik

Storyline

Harrison Lloyd is a Pulitzer-winning photojournalist. His wife and family are making it hard for him to keep his mind on his work when he's in a war zone, and he wants to change jobs to something less stressful. But he's got one last assignment, in war-torn Yugoslavia, in 1991, at the height of the fighting. Word comes back that he apparently died in a building collapse, but his wife Sarah (also a journalist for Newsweek) refuses to believe that he's dead and goes looking for him. She's helped immensely by the photo-journalists Eric Kyle and Marc Stevenson that she runs into over there; together, they're determined to make it through the chaotic landscape to Vukovar, which is not only the nexus of the war but where she believes Harrison is located. Meanwhile, Harrison's son Cesar is looking after his father's prized greenhouse, keeping hope, and flowers, alive.

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Plot Keywords:

photojournalist | yugoslavia | presumed dead | greenhouse | flower | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes love is the only proof you need.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong war violence and gruesome images, pervasive language and brief drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Cinédia Films Thierry Lacaze [fr] (French) Universal [us]

Country:

France

Language:

English French Serbian Croatian

Release Date:

24 January 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

A felejtés virágai

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$867,635 (USA) (15 March 2002)

Gross:

$1,843,570 (USA) (5 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

7 Films Cinéma, Canal+, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

An advertisement for Windows 2000 can be seen in the window of a computer store as Sarah leaves an office building in New York in 1991.

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Quotes

Marc Stevenson: Excuse me, are you deaf? Or are you just not listening? It's impossible. What do you think, you drive to the airport and call for a taxi? 'Take me to Vukovar, please.' This is a war we have here. Real war with real blood, real death. Real bombs, mines, bullets. And real pricks who'd like to cut your stomach out. War. Didn't your husband ever mention it?

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

User Reviews

Its a matter of feeling

I just saw "Welcome to Sarajevo", a film that got a lot of press and positive remarks when it came out. I only suspect that much of the press was based on the fact that it came out only a couple of years after the end of that terrible war in Bosnia.

Just as in "Welcome" this film also depicts the life of journalists, trying to understand and convey the happenings in a country once believed to be almost western. (Which, I suspect, is the reason that it had such an impact on the western psyche.) As everbody else has pointed out this is where the best characters are found, especially Adrian Brodys character.

Several others have already pointed out that the main story revolving around a lost love and an heroic wife trying to save her husband is really awkward. But since you need somekind of story, that might just as well be it. I saw this film a second time just recently and actually managed to ignore the plot and focuse on the description of the madness that was eastern Croatia in the early 1990´s.

This film has an incredible feeling, the settings, the photography and the score makes it come really close to being in an actual war. I cant really praise this enough. Compared to "Welcome" this film hits you in the guts as it shows the brutality of urban warfare and the senseless killings that occur in all wars.

Other films about Bosnia that are recommended if you like this one, "No mans land", "Pretty Village, Pretty fire" and "Savior". And why not give "Welcome" a chance too.