Harrison's Flowers

Harrison's Flowers, directed by Elie Chouraqui and starring Andie MacDowell, is an odd combination of political drama and soap opera.  The music by Cliff Eidelman is surprisingly affecting, mainly because it goes straight for the heart.  The film tells the story of Sarah, a naive woman who must go on a perilous journey to the Balkans to find her husband Harrison, a Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist who has gone missing and is presumed dead.  Few films have shown the horrors of the Balkans effectively without become preachy, and unfortunately this film falls into the trap.  It is an effective tearjerker, but at the expense of artistic credibility.  It is tough to combine soap opera melodrama with gritty documentary style.

Though the film is not a complete success, Eidelman does a reasonably good job of conveying the tragedy of loss and the suspense of going into a strange, dangerous land.  Eidelman's score is fairly standard, broad movie music that moves the audience's emotions along from scene to scene.  He hints at the culture in the story with faint Eastern European melodies.  There is a common theme among the pieces, and it does feel like a unified, well-conceived score.

The even-handed ness is probably the greatest weakness of the score.  It is effective at pushing us to a certain emotional point, but the lack of uniqueness and intensity limit the overall efficaciousness of the score.  Also, this film is in part about this woman's discovery of this strange land, so it is surprising that more of the cultural elements do not pervade the music.  It would help both the atmosphere and the uniqueness of the film.

Overall, this soundtrack is perfectly fine, but never superlative.  Get it if you are a huge fan of the film or like your heartstrings plucked.  Otherwise, you may want to hold off on it.