The Vincent |
PRODUCTION NOTES: According to the producers, the biggest challenge of filming Shot Through the Heart was shooting on location in Sarajevo and Budapest. One of the difficulties the cast and crew faced was simply getting to Sarajevo, as the airport remains damaged from the war and the slightest change in weather can make landing impossible. Situated between hills, Sarajevo has what is referred to as a microclimate, one day spring-like, the next with six inches of snow, making travel, let alone continuity in filming, a constant challenge. Still, it was an experience of a lifetime for people who had never seen the tragedy of war close-up. Explains director David Attwood, "We saw bullet-ridden apartments with parts of the building that were entirely blown away. This wasn't a battlefield - it was a place where people were living and continue to live. We were incredibly fortunate to be able to shoot in some of the actual locations where Vlado's story took place." Attwood and the rest of the cast and crew attended "mine awareness" training as a precautionary measure against the numerous unexploded mines remaining in the city. "It was just incredibly sad to see all this devastation," adds producer Su Armstrong, who was particularly touched by filming one character's burial in an actual Sarajevo cemetery. "During the war there were so many deaths that all the cemeteries became full," continues Armstrong. "With no more space available, they had to make do by converting a football field. So basically you have this cemetery set with the city in its backdrop, and in a very strange way it's so beautiful. But then you think of the fact that it was once a football field, and now all you see are back-to-back headstones that all bear the same year of death on each of them. It really gets to you." The producers would have preferred to film the entire production in Sarajevo but it wasn't practical. They tried instead to do the next best thing, which was to recreate Sarajevo as best they could in another eastern European city, Budapest. In choosing the locations, they were concerned with maintaining the flavor and personality of eastern Europe, which ruled out filming in any other place. In Budapest, the filmmakers recreated downtown Sarajevo on what was formerly a Russian army base, then proceeded to blow it up. Observing all the action was none other than the real-life Vlado Sarzinsky, who still lives in Sarajevo. Standing in the doorway on the set of what is supposed to be his apartment, he reflected on the film of his life during the war. "It's all so confusing in a way," says Vlado. "Remember, I never thought the war would actually happen to begin with. I thought it was all just talk. In a way I should be proud, because it is about me and my family, and how we survived this terrible five years. But then I think it is not about me and my family. It's about a hundred thousand families, some of whom had it a lot worse than I did." ***** Here are some pics while they were filming in Budapest. In the first photo Vincent poses with the real Vlado Sarzinsky, played by Linus Roache in the film. The girl with Vincent is Vlado's daughter, who was portrayed by Karianne Henderson.
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