Welcome to Sarajevo

A Phoenix pick

Based on the chronicled experiences of war correspondent Michael Nicholson, Welcome to Sarajevo is an arresting depiction of the conflict in Bosnia. British stage actor Stephen Dillane stars as Michael Henderson, a TV reporter who comes to Sarajevo to make his mark on the six o'clock news but instead finds himself drawn to the plight of children orphaned by the war. After several newscasts urging the international community to extract the children prove ineffectual, Henderson gets involved personally and undertakes a plan to smuggle a nine-year-old girl out of the country.

Dillane's portrait of a man caught between objectivity and his conscience is genuine and compelling, and Woody Harrelson is pleasantly effective in a bit part as Flynn, a maverick American journalist. But the true success behind Sarajevo lies in director Michael Winterbottom's surehanded composition. He has crafted a chaotic digest that weaves through sniper fire and the burnt-out alleyways of a war-torn city with all the vigor of Salvador or Under Fire. The result is crisp, brutal, and utterly inspirational. Screens at the Copley Place Sunday the 14th at 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. and Monday the 15th at 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. Director Michael Winterbottom will appear before Sunday's 7:30 screening.

-- Tom Meek

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