Whether as a subject for historical investigation or social drama, the war in the former Yugoslavia is made for film, as 1997's Welcome to Sarajevo demonstrates. Inspired by the book Natasha's Story by ITN reporter Michael Nicholson, this takes very much a human-interest angle on the conflict. Stephen Dillane plays a journalist whose involvement moves from the professional to the personal as he faces up to marauding Serbian mercenaries, then family ties, to get the apparently orphaned Emira out of Sarajevo and back to the security of his own family in the UK. It could... have been awash with journalists-are-good-guys-really sentiment, but director Michael Winterbottom is mindful to present the story in the context of the siege--some of the filming here is harrowingly realistic--and draws responsive performances from a cast including Woody Harrelson as a hard-living American reporter and Marisa Tomei as an aid worker determined to save children's lives at all costs. As a film about the "why" of the Yugoslavian war, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame is unsurpassed, but Welcome to Sarajevo is a potent look into the "how". On the DVD: Welcome to Sarajevo comes to DVD with a decent 16:9 anamorphic picture and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound that has the necessary immediacy. English subtitles are included, rightly so in a film of this nature. Special features include 30 minutes of interview snippets with cast and crew, "on location" sequences and three theatrical/TV trailers. --Richard Whitehouse [show more]
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