Audience Member
cinegeek.de Our Daily Free Stream: Ich denke, Michael Winterbottom hat mit seinem phantastischen In This World eine notwendige moderne Interpretation der Odyssee geliefert. Eine Odyssee durch eine Welt, in der nichts mehr sicher scheint. Ein vierzehnjähriger verbringt vier Monate auf der Flucht, in Containern, Bussen, Schiffen. Auf dem Lastwagen nach Istanbul treffen Jamal und Enayatullah auf eine kurdische Familie. Sie haben ein Kind, Mehdi, das kaum laufen kann. Alle werden nun in einen Container verfrachtet - für 40 Stunden wie uns eine Einblendung erklärt. Tag und Nacht und Tag fahren sie bis nach Triest. Die Flüchtlinge schreien und hämmern gegen die Wände des Containers. Mehdi geht es sehr schlecht, hören wir. Schliesslich wird es still. Der Container wird in ein Lagerhaus gebracht und geöffnet: Sie sind tot, hören wir eine Stimme auf italienisch sagen. Dann aber schreit ein Kind. Es ist Mehdi und sie tragen ihn hinaus ins Freie. Michael Winterbottom hat keinen normalen Flüchtlingsfilm inszeniert. Er hätte dann die Geschichte um Mehdi herum bauen müssen, denn wer könnte einem Kind seine Sympathie verweigern? In This World aber wählt einen anderen Weg. Wir erleben die Geschichte von Jamal, vierzehn Jahre alt aus einem Lager in Pakistan. Ausser Mehdi überlebt nur Jamal die Fahrt im Container. Wir sehen ihn später am Ziel durch die Strassen Londons laufen. Er ist immer noch vierzehn, ohne aber wie ein kind zu wirken. Er hat den Blick eines Überlebenden. Später wird er zu Hause anrufen und durchgeben, dass sein Freund verstorben sei. Wir sehen das Gesicht eines Greises am anderen Ende der Leitung, wie es erstarrt. In This World ist an dieser Stelle zu Ende. Michael Winterbottom begann 2011 mit den Recherchen. Er erkannte, dass er für In This World auf vieles verzichten müsste, was normalerweise zu einem "richtigen" Film gehört: Statt eines Drehbuchs erleben wir improvisierte Dialoge, statt mit einer Kamera ist das Geschehen auf Mini DV aufgezeichnet, statt Schauspielern sehen wir Protagonisten von der Strasse. Der Film durchlebt so die Bedingungen der Flucht noch einmal: Den Staub auf den Strassen Pakistans, die glühende Hitze im Iran, die klirrende Kälte in den Bergen Ostanatoliens. Winterbottom und sein Team greifen auf die Erfahrungen ihrer Laiendarsteller zurück. Das, was wir im Film sehen, haben sie wirklich so erlebt. Heute lesen wir Forderungen, 350000 Flüchtlinge abzuschieben. Darunter das Bild eines feisten Politikers mit Ansatz zum Doppelkinn. Man möchte ihn zwingen, In This World zu sehen - draussen in den Bergen Ostanatoliens. (Wir stellen nicht den Film, nur den link zur Verfügung) (Bild: https://iwearsweaters.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/in_this_world_main.jpg
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
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Audience Member
Remarkable immigrant drama of a long journey to the promised land
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
sarfaraz a
In This World written by Tony Grisoni and directed by British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom. The film won the Golden Bear prize at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival. Non-actors Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah.
Set in February 2002 - Enayat and Jamal are two Afghan teenager cousins in refugee camps in Peshawar (capital/largest city of Khyber Pakhtoonwa Pakistan). Enayat's father wants to send him to London for better future after the U.S. bombed Afghanistan, in October 2001. Enayat is weak at English, so young Jamal is to accompany him, who speaks broken English. They have handed out cash in Dollar, Rupees, Rial to smugglers at Quetta (capital/largest city of Balochistan Pakistan). They are handpicked by Toyota pickups in shabby condition and arrive in Tehran, from where they are caught and sent back to Quetta. Enayat re-bribes same guy and this time they arrive safe in Iran, but while attempting to enter Tehran at midnight, the aerial gun-fires by security forces them to opt for Turkey from mountains. They arrive safe into Turkey, and work for weeks at a small factory, managed by smugglers. All of the sudden, they are locked in container, and shipped to Italy - in which Enayat dies of suffocation and lack of fresh-air along with Iranian couple who were heading for Denmark. Jamal now alone, hawks newspaper in Italy. After stealing some money, he buys a ticket to Paris. He reaches at notorious Sangatte refugee camp of Kurds, Afghans, Iranians, where he meets another teenager- together the two sneak under lorry and reach London via English Channel rout.
Estimated number of Afghan refugees exceeds more than one million inside Pakistan. More than 0.5 million Afghans head for Karachi which attracts vast majority of people due to being largest city and full of swing. Many Afghans have illegally acquired Pakistani National Identity Cards, and refuse to go back to Afghanistan (neither is Pakistan government willing to send them back - in cunning attempt to keep receiving billions of dollars from international community in the name of refugees - of which not a single penny is spent).
Quetta is hub of smuggling between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many Pakistanis smuggle electronics appliances and dry-fruit that is least expensive in Iran. Pakistanis who illegally try to cross into Dubai or Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, opt for Iran as route. Iranian security-forces at border are far vicious in suppressing this by launching rockets occasionally. This, they do in fear that Sunni Muslims might align with Sunni resistance inside Iran. Only, two days ago Iranian forces launched two rockets which killed a Pakistani village girl.
This film doesn't come without claustrophobic experience that of being locked inside container for more than 40-hours.
Excellent filming, and emotional journey that starts pleasantly and offers us ups and downs, heart-piercing moments. Michael follows the real kids and uses exact same places which were part of planned-travel - including security and police forces. Every emotional moment here grows trust in Michael's work watching the documentary. I recalled the similar vision about Danny Boyale behind-the-camera filming of Slumdog Millionaire. Deluxe Color widescreen DV-to-35mm camera was used for filming.
It is always a difficult and usually illegal path to arrive in Dubai, Kuwait or Iran. It costs around US $50 to reach Iran via bus or train. Smugglers inside Pakistan, who work in disguise of travel agents, deceive people to bring them to Dubai via similar routes - costing around $300 as compared to $600-700 via proper or legal means (subject to kind of types of visa - labor visa is most difficult to get for any country especially for Pakistanis) - furthermore, since they refuse to return back and already embarking on living illegally there, why trouble spending expensively on legal and proper documents. Those who believe that, it is time to head back to home, they voluntarily show up at their embassy in host country, or get themselves caught by the police who deport them in next flight to home (saving them of travel-fairs and documents needed).
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Loved this for the most part, but it fell into a bit of cheap manipulation in the last act and never really recovered. Too bad, everything leading up to that was pretty much perfect.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
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Audience Member
Absolutely beautiful, love how they made it so dramatic and yet, it tries to imitate the illegal immigrant life as much as possible.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Its a decent film, and an important one, but I found it skitted around the real serious issues in question. Too safe and 'controlled' for my liking. I was hoping for it would be grittier and the subject more exposed.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
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