In this World

Michael Winterbottom, I thought, was a director worth watching (I had seen his film "Jude") but I was sorely disappointed with this film that was bestowed with a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film festival--a festival that often picks up fine cinema for its honors. I saw "In this world" at the on-going Dubai international film festival expecting to see top-notch cinema.

Instead of great cinema, I saw a film that flounders in its effort to capture reality. Winterbottom and cinematographer Marcel Zyskind capture young faces and their action creditably (the young sibling who follows his brother as he leaves the refugee camp) at times and then slip up to the most shoddy camera-work soon after (local Pakistanis staring at the camera, shadows of vehicles carrying camera equipment on road sequences). The film attempts to capture fiction in a documentary style. The effort is commendable but the outcome is at best an average effort at highlighting the problem of refugees.

The film begins with statements on the ration provided to refugees. A great beginning with shots of a real refugee camp. Then I was appalled to see shots of women dancers being showered with currency notes and a gruesome sacrifice/killing of an ox--sequences that add no value to the rest of the film.

What is the film trying to state? Refugees are in a bad shape and they need to escape. Is Winterbottom suggesting that those who succeed are heroes and those who do not are tragic figures? Is he trying to make a statement on cultural values across borders?

I feel Winterbottom could have served better purpose if he had retained the elements of documentary and discussed the problems of refugees than dramatize the journey itself. If he wanted to dramatize the journey--what are the shots of the dancing women doing here?

Berlin has made a wrong choice--not that Winterbottom lacks in talent. But this is mixed-up cinema

"In This World" is yet another exceptional film from Michael Winterbottom, who seems to be one of the best directors from the UK these days. I really liked his film before this "24 Hour Party People" and once again he has done a masterful job of combining elements of documentary into a feature films. From the outset, it is pointed out that lots more 'muhla' went into bombing Afghanistan than providing refugees with any assistance. This was filmed in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and parts of Western Europe. One of the more touching moments comes when the lead characters meet up with an Iranian (I presume ethnic Kurds) family as they enter Southeast Turkey from Iran. A very touching film. It is certainly more vivid an disturbing than most road movies, whether you are talking about "Stagecoach" or even "Thelma and Louise"- this is gripping stuff indeed, and a good companion to the recent Afghan film "Osama."

Those of us who live in so-called "western" and "civilized" cities always enjoy imagining the nostalgia of getting away from it all, owning a small hut in the mountains, living off of nature's gifts: veggies from the back yard, and meat from the farmhouse. Well, then there are those who live in those places that seem oh so nostalgic to us, and can't wait to get away from it all. They face the realities of rural life that so many of us day-dreamers tend not to include in our imaginings. And it also becomes hard for us to comprehend what is it about our stress-filled lives that these people want, that they would put their lives in danger and risk everything for entering another country and be part of that life. Then we realize the ignorant and arrogant lives we've been living: The luxury of taking survival for granted.

Films like "In this world" show us the journey taken in search for the promised lands. And we realize that the struggle for survival is common in every part of the world; it simply takes a different shape or form. The refugee's life becomes a story of adaption, rather than reaching a resolution. The idea of getting away from it all turns into realizing the lack of the void: that the frame of mind is what dictates what we want to get away from. Because it is so easy to find something to want to get away from, anywhere we live. Winterbottom's film captures these issues in almost documented reality of two brothers in search for the promised lands. It's almost as obvious of a reality right infront of us, as real and un-noticed as the image of the main titles super-imposed on a paint-peeling wall.

We see that we all are a refugee, running away from something, only to realize that we end up chasing a dream we will be running away from again later.

I don't want to try to explain the events in this film, or create an indepth synopsis. I'm not very good at that, and there are better places to find them (in fact, I think it's better to view it without knowing the plot).

What I do want to explain is how the concept is executed, and the effects it creates on the audience.

Though I said this is a serious film, I don't mean it's a film that can only be understood by the super-intelligent. This film is effective for everyone who cares to read into the situation.

At first, I thought this was a true documentary. The DV handheld camera and documentary feel is there all the way through the film, but at the start there was a quick voice over explaining a few things about the location. Also, bystanders were interacting with the camera.

However, as things progressed it's obvious to anyone that it's not a documentary, but in fact a very crafty piece of filmmaking. The beginning intends to fool you into the idea that this is a true, real life documentary, so as things hot up, you are more engaged. I was pondering this issue through the first fifth of the film, however, this wasn't a bad thing at all.

The settings in the film were breathtaking, so real and brutal. It was, in essence, a road movie. Our protagonists travelled around and stopped off at places, but as it was in documentary style, we seemed that little more part of the quest than you would in other road movies.

This may sound hypocritical, but because of the documentary style, we stay distant from our characters. We don't align with their emotions; instead we are voyeurs to the situation. Rather than feeling things from their point of view, we feel the situations as if we were there WITH them.

The visuals and editing in this film are also very important. In one scene, I was feeling very disoriented, and, almost sick, just like our on-screen characters. This was due to the lighting and editing, not shock or sickening imagery.

I saw this film in the cinema, but I expect many people will only be able to see this on TV or DVD because this isn't running the mainstream cinema circuit. However, unlike most movies, I think this will work well on all mediums because it's not a traditional film as it tries to pass itself off as a documentary. Maybe the scenes that really effected me physically won't work so well viewing them at home because it's unlikely you have the same A/V equipment, however everything else will be fine.

I agree with the previous review that this film is bleak, but despite this, it is very intriguing and you won't be able to look away once you get into it! You shouldn't leave the film feeling bored.

A FILM does not get much more real than this! I give it 8/10.

Motivated by a news story about 58 Chinese immigrants found suffocated in a container at Dover, In This World by Michael Winterbottom is a passionate tribute to the nearly one million refugees a year who are willing to take enormous risks to seek a better life. Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, the film follows two boys, Jamal, 16 (Jamal Udin Torabi) and his older cousin Enayat (Enayatullah) on a perilous overland journey from an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan to seek economic security in the West. Shot in documentary style with a digital camera strapped to the back of cinematographer Marcel Zyskind, the film is fictional but is drawn from a true story and mirrors the desperate conditions of untold thousands whose faces we never see.

The boys are Pashtun who have grown up at the Shamshatoo refugee camp in Pakistan along with 53,000 other Afghanis, victims of the Russian-Afghan War or the American war against the Taliban. The politics of the refugees are not discussed and the film is basically a human story that crosses political and religious lines. Since Jamal speaks some English, Enayat's family asks him to go with him to London where he can apply for asylum as a refugee. From Peshawar, Jamal and Enayat travel by bus to Quetta and over the Iranian border to Taftan and by bus to Tehran. They do not have proper identification and must contend along the way with border guards, police, thieves, smugglers, and numerous changes in currency and language.

The boys bribe a customs officer with a Walkman but when ordered off a bus to Tehran, they meet a group of Kurds who offer them the hand of friendship. There is not much dialogue and the boys mostly improvise the funny stories and small talk as they endure days and weeks of waiting for their next ride. In a sequence of great beauty shot at nighttime using infrared photography, the Kurds help the two boys cross the icy mountains to Turkey, ducking the gunfire of armed soldiers at the Turkish border. Together with an Iranian and his wife and baby, they are then brutally forced to travel inside a shipping container for a 40-hour voyage from Turkey to Italy, a journey where only the strong survive.

In This World is not just a road movie but a human document of urgency and commitment that allows us to experience the humanity of the people some contemptuously refer to as "economic migrants" or "asylum seekers". While it is not a political statement, it is clearly as a slap at the recent hardening of European immigration policies. On a broader scale, however, the film can be seen as an apt metaphor for life. It tells us that the journey is exhilarating but fraught with unimagined obstacles at every turn, yet there are friends who are there for us along the way and, when we feel overwhelmed and hopeless, there is an aching beauty that fortifies us with the strength to keep going.