In This World

Rating:
Summary: In This World
Review: This film is sensitive, moving and hard hitting.I loved it. I cried for the plight of asylum seekers and I am amazed at their endurance and hope. We should welcome such resourceful, hardy people with open arms.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic tale of refugees
Review: This film tells the story of Jamal (Jamal Udin Torabi) and Enayat (Enayatullah), two young men who attempt the underground journey from a refugee camp in Afghanistan to London. Both characters are played by real refugees, non-actors who actually lived the type of story portrayed here. Director Michael Winterbottom followed the route taken by his protagonists, using guerilla filmmaking techniques such as filming in the actual locations, reportedly recording people, at times, when they did not know that they were being filmed. Night scenes were shot with night vision equipment and appear to show confrontations with actual border guards; the black-and-white photography of these sequences, in which the characters eyes seem to glow in the dark, takes on a nightmarish quality. Some may find the film slow--it does not develop its characters in a traditional way through scenes and dialogue, but shows them to show their qualities through the tenacity and courage that they display during their trip. The constant motion and eerie musical score contribute to a hypnotic, trance-like feel that imbues its characters with a sense of being entirely consumed with their journey from a dismal past into an uncertain, frightening future. The scene in a shipping container is particularly harrowing. The only sour note comes at the very beginning; Winterbottom mentions US responsibility for the plight of many Afghan refugees without acknowledging the complicity of the Taliban as well. Nevertheless, this is not an overtly political film, but rather a very human and intimate one about the terrible risks people are willing to take to get to a land of opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Authentic tale of refugees
Review: This film tells the story of Jamal (Jamal Udin Torabi) and Enayat (Enayatullah), two young men who attempt the underground journey from a refugee camp in Afghanistan to London. Both characters are played by real refugees, non-actors who actually lived the type of story portrayed here. Director Michael Winterbottom followed the route taken by his protagonists, using guerilla filmmaking techniques such as filming in the actual locations, reportedly recording people, at times, when they did not know that they were being filmed. Night scenes were shot with night vision equipment and appear to show confrontations with actual border guards; the black-and-white photography of these sequences, in which the characters eyes seem to glow in the dark, takes on a nightmarish quality. Some may find the film slow--it does not develop its characters in a traditional way through scenes and dialogue, but shows them to show their qualities through the tenacity and courage that they display during their trip. The constant motion and eerie musical score contribute to a hypnotic, trance-like feel that imbues its characters with a sense of being entirely consumed with their journey from a dismal past into an uncertain, frightening future. The scene in a shipping container is particularly harrowing. The only sour note comes at the very beginning; Winterbottom mentions US responsibility for the plight of many Afghan refugees without acknowledging the complicity of the Taliban as well. Nevertheless, this is not an overtly political film, but rather a very human and intimate one about the terrible risks people are willing to take to get to a land of opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Human Smuggling Story
Review: This is a fascinating film and well worth watching.

The human smuggling drama unfolds steadily with a few good plot twists, as the 2 main characters trek across two continents (mostly by land) toward their destination (London). Streamlined film-making on location, combined with the use of very talented untrained actors, makes the "movie" seem more like a well-done, dramatic documentary. The surround sound also heightens the "realism" of the journey and is excellent.

If you want to increase your enjoyment of the film, I strongly recommend that you take an extra hour or so to watch the behind-the-scenes featurette, director's commentary, and trailers. Although it's been mentioned that the both "actors" are not professionals, by watching these special features the viewers discover that the young man who played the part of Jamal (real name of Jamal Udin Torabi) has been trying to gain status in the UK as a legal alien. That "revelation" further heightens the emotional impact and socio-political importance of this excellent film.