Harrison's Flowers (2000)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Elie Chouraqui

Writers:

Isabel Ellsen (book)
Elie Chouraqui (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 January 2001 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Sometimes love is the only proof you need.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Yugoslavia | Greenhouse | Ethnic Cleansing | Mirror | Children Killed

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Les fleurs d'Harrison (France) (subtitle)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

130 min | USA:121 min

Country:

France

Language:

English | French | Serbian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Canada:14A | France:U | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Czech Republic

Company:

7 Films Cinéma

Goofs:

Anachronisms: 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.

Quotes:

Yeager Pollack: There are only two different types of people in this world. Those who have seen the war, and those who haven't.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

I've never seen any other movie like this before!

I've never seen any other movie like this before! Granted, my exposure to movies where photojournalists are in the midst of war, it gave a stunning portrayal of how these levels of violence affect the people who take the pictures that we see in magazines.

If you want to read about the plot, then you should read the other comments about this film. However, if you want comments, then consider these: While the movie does have a love story plot (wife tries to find husband in war-torn Eastern Europe), the presentation of the war scenes within the movie are phenomenal, giving it a "Saving Private Ryan" feeling.

As Sara (the wife) and the photographers look for Harrison Lloyd, not only do you see how far a wife will go in order to find her husband, but you also witness just how far photojournalists will go in order to save their own.

And if you ask me, the "Hollywood Ending" was absolutely necessary in order to justify showing the rest of the grim war scenes throughout the movie (they can be disturbing, but they aren't gory). Had the movie ended any other way, I think that the majority of the viewers would feel extremely depressed after sitting through a two-hour movie.

Definitely a great movie! This is one that will get a lot of playtime in my DVD player.