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

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the final scene, it is told that Sarah and Harrison have moved to St. Louis and they are seen dancing during this voice-over. This suggests a future occurrence after the climax of the movie, yet Harrison's left arm has reappeared.

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Quotes

Kyle Morris: Get off my case or go home to mommy.
Marc Stevenson: Shit. I'd love to see my mommy.

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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 Surprisingly Great Dramatic Anti-War Movie

In 1991, the Newsweek photographer Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn) is considered dead, after an explosion in the building where he was. Nobody has indeed seen his body, and his wife Sarah Lloyd (Andie MacDowell) refuses to believe he died. She flies to Graz (Austria) and makes a journey to hell, with some other journalists and photographers correspondents of war though a Yugoslavia in a very dirty war. On December 2003, this film was released on VHS and DVD in Brazil, but I have found no reference about it. Yesterday I had the chance to see it, and it is a surprisingly great dramatic anti-war movie. The cruel story explores and presents very realistic scenes of this very sad war, with its ethnic cleaning, when children, women and elders are executed in a horrible way. In some moments, I recalled the outstanding `Apocalypse Now', not because of the landscape, characters or screenplay, which are totally different, but because of the insanity. Like in `Schindler's List', there is an excellent scene with a beautiful yellow dressed girl. The cast, leaded by Andie MacDowell, Adrien Brody and David Strathairn, is excellent and the unknown (at least for me) director Elie Chouraqui offers a very realistic great production. The story is not corny, and the crazy and sensitive search of Sarah is very touching. I highly recommend this film for any audience. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `O Resgate de Harrison' (`The Rescue of Harrison')

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