In this World

It is a magnificently crafted film from a cinematic standpoint, following no formulaic conventions about how to tell a story. It mixes dramatic and documentary techniques to create a moody, unflinching look at the plight of refugees of war. By introducing techniques of voice-over fact presentations and title overlays, it sets up an expectation that we are about to watch a documentary, and that what we are about to see is being filmed as it happens. Yet clearly, it must be a fiction, because it's too sharp, clean, and choreographed to be anything but staged. It maintains a curiously detached and distanced voice, and even the characters themselves seem rather remote from their own lives. They have a sad, worn-down air, and seem to trudge ahead with neither hope nor fear even in the most horrific circumstances. Their detachment from their own lives distances the viewer from them as well, unfortunately.

At the conclusion, I sat stunned near tears. I am often impressed with films I am viewing but I rarely am left speechless. This film is one of those moments when film history is being written. I assumed all along that this was the telling of a true story because of its documentary style. But it is merely representative of the many such stories that happen every day in this cruel exploitative business of people smuggling.

This film makes it's point without being ponderous or preachy. I felt I was there with these beautiful unfortunate young men on the horrendous journey to escape their life of poverty in a refugee camp. This film maker should be given some type of international award for his courage in making this film about this subject matter. I never felt more appreciative of my apartment than I did last night when I got home.

Highly Recommended. 10 points.

Eclectic English film-maker Michael Winterbottom has produced his finest work to date with 'In this World', a pseudo-documentary account of the attempted journey of two Afghani refugees to London. This film's outstanding achievement is the sense it conveys that despite the ubiquity of television, mobile phones and the English language, this is still a big, poor and very beautiful world. I can't praise the cinematography highly enough - almost every scene is stunningly composed, especially the nighttime crossing of the mountains (shot without the use of additional lighting), yet none feels contrived. Characterisation is minimal, but the viewer feels emotionally bound to the journey. As a rich westerner, I am used to hopping on a plane and flying wherever I wish, but Winterbottom nonetheless succeeds in making me appreciate the culture shock encountered for his protagonists in travelling merely from one side of Pakistan to another. Their journey, of course, is no sort of holiday.

Winterbottom steers clear of direct politics, but we see (along with great suffering) numerous examples of the small ways in which human beings can be nice to one another - the contrast with the xenophobic hatred of the Daily Mail is unspoken but clear. Who knows if the real-life Jamals of this world find happiness? But the message for us is that we forget our shared humanity at our peril.

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.

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