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Harrison's Flowers is a misleading title.  This is a film about war and stars Andie Macdowell, who has come a long way as an actress.  Her first memorable role was in Green Card with Gerard Depardieu of ten years ago.  Now, we have a film of a woman on a mission to reclaim her husband from wartime.  Macdowell plays Sarah Lloyd, wife of Harrison Lloyd, a Newsweek photographer.  We are lead to believe that Lloyd is a real person, though this story is probably a composite of photojournalists who go into war zones.  

The story has both Sarah and husband, Harrison (David Strathairn) in the news business.  They have a solid, loving marriage with two children. Harrison has a hobby of raising delicate flowers in a private green house.  He goes on one last assignment to Yugoslavia and is reported dead in an explosion.  There is no body.  Grieving, Sarah watches endless newscasts from that region and suddenly thinks she sees Harrison in a news shot.  Convinced he is alive, she leaves the children in her mother's care (Diane Baker) travels to Yugoslavia where her adventure into war begins.

Yes, this is another film of warfare and it has been out for almost a year.  Yes, it is another tale of searching for a lost person in warfare (Charlotte Gray), but this time, it is grittier, brutal and frightening.  Sarah refuses to even think that Harrison might be lost to her.  She cannot believe otherwise.  Along the way, she picks up three photographers, one of which (Adrien Brody) had an argument with Harrison before he left on this assignment.  Brendan Gleeson is the large man of the group, but he is also the one first frightened at the sight of danger.  The third man, Elias Koteas, a friendly competitor of Harrison's, decides he can help after all.  

Harrison's Flowers has hand-held camera work to bring audiences into the film.  You are there as tanks roll by only fingertips away and you are there as bullets zing by.  You are there at army brutalizations of civilians and you are there at explosions.  In fact, at the end of the film, you feel as though you want to take a shower and wash away all the dust and grime of war. The group goes from one danger to another. There are car crashes, sneaking past a sniper, being in an exploding building, hiding from troops and death everywhere. The people at home see the incoming photos after 48 hours, but by that time, the photographer may be dead.  

Acting is top-notch with Macdowell leading the way.  David Strathairn as the gentle Harrison isn't in the film that long.  Adrien Brody excels, as the wanna-be photojournalist who carries enough drugs for a pharmacy yet is always ready for the next adventure.  Brendan Gleeson is the man who is two steps behind everyone, but the gentle giant who comes through in the end.  Elias Koteas acts mostly as a sounding board to say, "I think we should or should not do this or that." The rest of the cast abroad are hidden in so much camouflage gear and facial dirt; it is difficult to distinguish individual actors.   The film was done in the Czech Republic near Prague.  

What makes people go into a war zone to record what is happening?  Is it for history?  Is it for personal glory?  Matthew Brady and the American Civil War offers a prime example.  If not for his work, we may have a different perspective of what we thought happened.  The same is shown in Harrison's Flowers.  What one hears as a news report may not be the same thing the photographer sends back.  When a photographer is killed in the film, he is placed face up with his camera on his chest, lens up as though shooting the place he is going to.  Death can come in an instant or a lifetime away.  Such is the aberration of war and as the end credits tell us, over a thousand photojournalists have died in the Slav conflicts in recent years.

Copyright 2002 Marie Asner 3/19/2002

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