Renny Harlin directing Russian-Georgia war drama

The director gets serious with a reality-based pic

Aug 4th 2009 By James White

Renny Harlin is switching from his usual diet of popcorn thrillers to something with a little more bite - tackling a drama about 2008's Russian/Georgian conflict.

The film doesn't have a title and the plot is largely under wraps, but it'll essentially tell the story of an American journalist and his cameraman stuck in the middle of the fight, struggling with their human natures against the need to be impartial observers.

It'll be set against the backdrop of the short war that saw Georgian forces attacking the border area of South Ossetia with the Russian army striking back when Ossetia declared independence.

You might be wondering why the man who made Cliffhanger and Deep Blue Sea getting so serious?

"I want to make a film that says something about the human condition, and even if only a few people see this and feel its impact and its antiwar message, then I will have done something that's important and I will be proud of it," he tells Variety.

So now you know...

It's kicking off pre-production now and he plans to film near the area where the fighting occurred in September.

[Source: Variety]

Renny Harlin goes art house? What do you think?