Sunday, July 22, 2012

In This World













On a shoestring budget, Michael Winterbottom and his small film crew have created a riveting docudrama -- In This World (2002) -- that combines specifics with universals. The main story line follows the efforts and harrowing (mostly overland) journey of Afghan cousins Jamal (Jamal Udin Tarabi, who looks sort of like singer Eric Burdon of The Animals) and Enayat (Enayatullah) from a Pakistani refugee camp, with the intention of finding de facto asylum in London during the still-ongoing Afghanistan War. Will they make it safely through Iran and Turkey and beyond?



















In the tradition of John Steinbeck and many others, Winterbottom and crew's efforts are effective. By the end of this film, any alert viewer would learn a lot about the desperation and resilience of refugees and immigration efforts. From an international perspective, changing one's situation is hard, a long shot, unless one is extremely fortunate to begin with. On the other hand, if one doesn't make the attempt, one has no chance at all.

Today's Rune: Opening.   

2 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

I meant to see this one and it got by me. Thanks for the reminder.

the walking man said...

No gets to anew place without having the temerity to make that first mile a memory