Buy In This World on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Tony Grisoni
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Jamal Udin Torabi, Enayatullah, Imran Paracha
Rated: R
Plot
A refugee family is trying to reach more peaceful lands illegally inside trucks.
Verdict
This captures what it's like to be an illegal immigrant, exploring the why and the danger. Two cousins want opportunity, a chance not to live in a cramped shack. The risk is worth it, and we watch there journey, full of setbacks. The documentary style lends this credibility. Who wouldn't try to escape those conditions and seek more, even if it's illegal? When you're feet are on the edge of the cliff, you can only fall or push back. It's not a traditional movie, but it exists to make a point, to generate understanding and empathy. It does that, but this is educational more than entertaining.
It depends.
Review
This is a drama shot in a documentary style with non-professional actors and improvised dialogue.
Two cousins, Jamal and Enayat, attempt to escape a Pakistan refugee camp for London. We see the cramped camp and their living conditions. We can begin to understand why they want to flee for more opportunity, but everyone they talk to warns them of the danger. To them the risk is worth it. There's no future in this camp.
There's no guarantees on this trip. They don't know who to trust. You just go along with what you're told. You can't argue as there are no alternatives. When they tell you to change clothes, you do it. When they tell you to get on the bus, you go. The pair are stopped on the bus. They claim they're not Afghans but without ID they're sent back to Pakistan.
They pay again to take this same trip that's already failed once. There's so much waiting. Everything is outside of their control. They just have to hope it works. They travel in a shipping container, and that makes the dangers real. The container doesn't have proper ventilation and people die.
In Italy Jamal resorts to stealing so he can buy a ticket to France. It's wrong, but you get his desperation. He's been through so much, and he has no one and nothing. All he has is the hope that life will be better in London.
Shooting this like a documentary makes this feel realistic, but it also makes the movie feel like it's documenting the conditions more than telling a story. it's not a traditional movie here to entertain, it's making a point about what refugees face and why they want to illegally immigrate. If we were stuck in camp, it's likely we too would risk safety and our very lives to escape, to look for an opportunity to better our situation regardless of the legalities.
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