Review of Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) by Cinema F — 02 Nov 2010

In a way that recalls Oliver Stone's work and Coppola's style in Gardens of Stone, director Michael Winterbottom interpolates into his recreation of a warzone excerpts from an actual news coverage. And in doing so, this makes the drama more immediate and powerful.

Winterbottom's stylistic concept in terms of structure was to give the film a sense of being divided into chapters that were terse, tense and affecting. The intercutting of the news footage with the film material creates a jolting effect as the story flips back and forth between drama and the wider context.

The story follows a group of journalists who spend their days braving the front lines, searching for footage that will guarantee them a prime slot on their local newscast. Their adage: To get the story they're prepared to risk everything.

Granted, the flick testifies to the toll that war takes on families and communities. Yet amidst all of the horrow it shows, also suggests the immense goodness that war can compel, from Michael's decision to take one of the children home to the UK and away from the war, to the sense of loyalty that one of the young Sarajevan men shows Michael. And yes, the people of Sarajevo resisted the siege by trying to carry on as normal, shopping and socialising with style and grace in the teeth of this montrous inhumanity.

Using archival news footage of politicians, the film makes straightforward, pointed comments about the absence of support for the victims of the war.