Harrison's Flowers

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.

Thank goodness for Brendan Gleeson and Adrien Brody. Without their performances, this movie would have been a waste of time. I couldn't stand Andie MacDowell's character. She plays a totally stupid woman. Anyone with any sense would have contacted the Red Cross and other international agencies and asked them to look for her husband, but she foolishly marches into the middle of a civil war and risks the lives of her husband's colleagues because she is so deeply in love. Of course, it would have been a different movie if her character acted with any brains and maturity. At a time when her children needed her the most, she leaves them and almost gets killed herself. The audience is supposed to think this is wonderful because it is so romantic. Give me a break.

Outstanding war drama. Grim, realistic - and what a fantastic cast. I have no idea why this film isn't more widely known - it certainly deserves to be - or actually, I do have an idea why it tanked. The cheesy title plus the fact that Andie MacDowell - the (then) "rom-com queen" - is in it, and that the film received next to no marketing are very likely reasons why nobody went to see this. But YOU should. It's worth it. 8 stars out of 10.

In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:

imdb.com/list/ls070242495

An emotional film about a woman's search for her husband, shown through events that really happened in the Croatian city of Vukovar.

The city of Vukovar was destroyed by the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) and Serb paramilitaries. Unfortunately, that really happened in 1991, and the hospital we see in the film really does exist, Serb paramilitaries pulled wounded Croatian civilians and soldiers out of it and killed most of them.

The massacre occurred shortly after Vukovar's capture by the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army ) and paramilitaries from neighboring Serbia. In that period, it was the fiercest battle in Europe since 1945, and Vukovar was the first major European city completely destroyed since World War II.

The film is really hard to watch, because the atrocities we see in the film, committed by Serbian paramilitaries and the JNA (Yugoslav People's Army), really happened in 1991.

The cast evoked the emotions and all the horrors of the war, the film is emotional, especially for those who survived the war.

The footage showing Serb paramilitaries entering the city and singing a truly disgusting song is faithfully reconstructed in the film and when you look at the actual footage from 1991, it is almost identical.

The cinematography is realistic and the directing is excellent. An emotional and impressive film.

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.