Welcome to Sarajevo *** (1997, Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei) – Classic Movie Review 3042

The story of ITN newsman Michael Nicholson is re-told in director Michael Winterbottom’s complex, hard-hitting 1997 movie take on the conflict in Bosnia.

Stephen Dillane exudes earnest propriety as the British TV journalist (slightly fictionalised as Michael Henderson) at the beginning of the war in Sarajevo. The British and American reporting teams find an orphanage run by devoted Mrs Savic near the front line. Henderson gets so involved in kids’ problems that his troubled conscience leads him to adopt a Bosnian baby and take the child back to England. American aid worker Nina (Marisa Tomei) helps him.

Using a mix of film, video and news footage, the film captures the conflict between everyday humdrum human existence and the sudden explosions of violence that bring home the effects of the siege in human terms.

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s screenplay is based on the book Natasha’s Story by Michael Nicholson. Also in the cast are Woody Harrelson as journalist Floyd from the US, Emira Nusevic, Kerry Fox, Goran Visnjic, James Nesbitt, Emily Lloyd and Juliet Aubrey. Dillane’s son Frank plays his son.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3042

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