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, Scott Anton, Elias Koteas

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:

forename in title | two word title | photojournalist | yugoslavia | vukovar | 

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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 [France] (French) Universal [United States]

Country:

France

Language:

English French Serbian Croatian

Release Date:

15 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

A felejtés virágai

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$867,635, 17 March 2002

Gross USA:

$1,871,025

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,033,646

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

During the battle, when they are hiding in the dead woman's house, the Serbian/Yugoslav tanks carry the Croatian national flag with a red star.

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Quotes

Sarah Lloyd: The children are so beautiful here.
Marc Stevenson: Yea, makes you want to put them in the backpack and take them away from here.

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Alternate Versions

For the United States version, the film's length was reduced by about 5 minutes; it also features a new score by Cliff Eidelman.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

User Reviews

A Journey into the Journalist's Personal Hell

Harrison's Flowers is a journey into a journalist's personal hell. While some may feel that the premise of the story is rather lame and confabulated, it serves a purpose. To show the human side of the photo journalists who bring the horrors of the world to those of us who, as they noted in the movie, are just worried about getting a parking ticket.

Too often when we non-journalists see photos of war zones we are horrified and, at the same time, we are dumbfounded as to how someone could be so inhuman and unfeeling as to photograph such graphic examples of man's inhumanity to man. Harrison's Flowers is excellent at showing us that just as a reader we can't stop looking at the horror even though we are revolted, the journalist cannot stop photographing and documenting it even though the human side of them is revolted as well.

As for Andie MacDowell's so-called wooden performance, one must remember that in this film she is seeing her husband's and his colleagues' world through their eyes for the first time. How quickly would any of us be able to break out of our shock-like trance and be totally outraged or emotional if this were the first time we were seeing it? Even the veteran photo journalist portrayed by Brendan Gleeson was paralyzed with shock more than once in the film. Andie MacDowell's character came from such an insulated world that seemingly emotionless shock was the perfect way to portray Sarah, who simply cannot fathom what she sees unfolding around her.

Harrison's Flowers is an excellent portrayal of the Serbo-Croatian hell that descended upon that part of Europe and irreparably tore apart the life of anyone in its path.