Change Your Image
erinaurielhendry
Reviews
Salam Neighbor (2015)
Complicit in the White Savior Narrative
The film Salam, Neighbor is an attempt at humanizing the Syrian refugee specifically refugees at Za'atari refugee camp. The film, however, failed to engage in a discussion of the nuances and contradictions present in refugee camps and ultimately displayed the way in which idealized Westerns often create issues in conflict areas. In the beginning, the documentary explores why the filmmakers, Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci, desired to make the film and the obstacles that emerged during the filming process. While having the filmmakers be part of the narrative is not problematic, this particular documentary perspective prevented an in depth discussion about the actual causes of the Syrian Conflict from being featured in the film. The beginning of the film, therefore, did not provide viewers with enough information about the people within the camp. Throughout the documentary, the filmmakers spent a significant amount of time discussing their own personal narratives and thus did not provide enough information on the true focus of the documentary-the Syrian refugees.
The filmmakers also chose to focus on the ideal refugees such as children which promotes the problematic notion that only certain populations of refugees are worth saving. In the beginning of the film, Temple and Ingrasci are told that it is unsafe for them to reside within the camp, but the issue of safety is never again addressed in the film. Based on the precautions the filmmakers were forced to take, there is significant amount of risk resulting from living inside a refugee camp. Thus, some members of the camp population must not be as welcoming to outsiders as the refugees featured in the film were. The filmmakers chose not to address these concerns about the refugee population and instead promoted the idealized image of a refugee.
The film, overall, contributes to the white savior narrative with the two filmmakers attempting to significantly change the lives of the refugees without considering the adverse impacts of their actions. Specifically, at one point in the documentary the two filmmakers cajole a young Syrian refugee into returning to school. Upon attending the refugee camp school, the young child has a breakdown, because he is forced to relive the traumatic event of seeing his school in Syrian being bombed. The filmmaker's inability to see the consequence of their actions before sending a child back to school demonstrates the lack of thought put into the project. The filmmakers put a young child in a mentality compromised situation in order to make themselves feel better about their actions. While the intention of the film, humanizing the Syrian refugee population, was admirable, the lack of forethought displayed in the documentary caused the film to be overall unsuccessful and disappointing.
Welcome (2009)
Beautiful Film
The film Welcome places the viewer in the midst of a young refugee's struggle to immigrate from France to Britain in order to unite with his young love. The refugee at the center of the story, Bilal, is a young Kurdish man who befriends a Frenchman swimmer by the name of Simon Calmat. Throughout the film, the two men form an unusual bond through which the viewer is exposed to some of the issues surrounding refugee immigration in France. The film's strength lies in its depiction of the relationship between the French citizens and the migrants. Many scenes in the film explore the complicated relationship between the two groups. For example, early in the film Calmat and his soon-to-be-ex-wife enter a grocery store and witness a security guard refuse service to two migrants. Calmat is unmoved by the conformation which suggests that during his time in Calais, he has become numb to these type of interactions. The apathy Calmat originally displays is indicative of how most French citizen have feel about the plight of the refugees. This indifference is the result of the policies and attitudes set forth by the French government which attempts to dehumanize the refugee population to the French citizens in an attempt to reduce the amount of refugees within the state.
The film also explores the relationship between relief workers and the French government. The aid workers, who are French citizens, attempt to provide food and water to the migrants. These acts appear to only meet the basic human needs of the refugees, but the French government condemns them as they believe such actions encourage refugees to stay in France. In the film, French immigration officers attempt to shut down the efforts of the aid workers by suggesting they helped Calmat harbor Bilal. The struggle between the French relief workers and the government depicted in the film accurately displays the current relationship of the two groups. It is refreshing to see a film attempt to address such complicated issues. It probes the question of what actions one should take when your basic responsibilities to feed and clothe your neighbors is at odds with the legislature put forth by your government.
One issue with the film is how it chooses to portray the character of Bilal. While the film does an admirable job of humanizing the refugee, but it falls prey to the common film ploy of presenting him as the perfect victim and therefore deserving of aide. Bilal always appears to be respectful and is driven by admirable intentions. His undying love for his young girlfriend, Mina, further supports his imagine as the perfect victim. The film could have been improved if Bilal was a more developed character. Perpetuation of the perfect victim ideology suggests that there are only certain refugees worth saving. While the film does engage in some clichés regarding its depiction of Bilal, the film overall is a powerful story that examines the way refugees are treated in a European nation.
The Way Back (2010)
Interesting Film, but Ending is Lacking
The film The Way Back is a thrilling story which details the escape of prisoners from a Soviet Gulag and the journey they must embark on in order reach a nation without communist sympathies. The opening of the movie was the strongest and most poignant part of the film as the first thirty minutes details the prisoners' experiences within the Gulag. The sequences in the Gulag make the viewer feel extremely claustrophobic, particularly during the scenes which take place in the mines, and creates an overall feeling of dread which causes the experience of viewing the film to feel more real. Moreover, the depictions of the day to day occurrences in Gulag are fairly accurate as the bartering systems displayed in the film and the prison social hierarchies were prominent features of life within a Soviet Gulag. The film was also able to explain how small infractions such as performing in a film could result in one's imprisonment within the Gulag.
To improve the depiction of the Gulag from both a historic and emotional lens, the director, Peter Weir, could have taken more steps to make the death displayed within the Gulag more impactful for the viewer. Gulags were incredibly dangerous as about one in four prisoners in the Gulags died each year (Alexopoulos, "Illness and Inhumanity in Stalin's Gulag"). While the film shows that some prisoners died from exposure, all the prisoners who die within the camp are nameless Gulag prisoners. It would have been more impactful if one of the detainees who was planning on escaping the Gulag died before they were able to leave.
Following the escape from the Gulag, the six prisoners embark on a journey with the goal of reaching Mongolia. The actual journey depicted within the film suffers from poor directing and screenwriting choices. Some parts of the journey depicted in the film such as when the escapees are traveling through China felt rushed whereas other aspects of the journey such as the initial trek through Russia could have been edited down. The strange depiction of time within the film prevented the viewer from having an accurate sense how long the journey took. Moreover, the survival aspects of the film such as the encounter with the sandstorm or the intense heat were not as interesting as the narratives the characters told about their experiences in the Soviet Union.
The most disappointing part of the entire film was the ending which involved the leader of the prisoners, Janusz Wieszczek, reuniting with his after fifty years of separation. The ending seemed impossible even when compared to the almost impossible feat of traveling from Siberia to India. I would have preferred the film to end with the completion of the journey instead of the strange husband and wife reunion as it appeared to cheapen the quality of the film.
Come See the Paradise (1990)
Horrible Film from Start to Finish
The film Come See the Paradise is a fairly standard Hollywood depiction of internment camps in the sense that it fails to focus on the many of the issues concerning internment and instead spends most of the film following an unbelievable and not convincing love story. The issue of Japanese internment is a charged subject and one of the darkest moments in American history. Thousands of American citizens and immigrants had their rights violated in dramatic ways because of racial prejudice. If one wants to portray this event in American history, the film must be tactful and treat the stories with care-Come See the Paradise failed to do this in almost every scene in the movie.
The majority of movie, which runs two hours and eighteen minutes long, follows the relationship of Lucy Kawamura, an American citizen of Japanese descent portrayed by Tamlyn Tomita, and Jack McGurn, an Irish American played by Dennis Quaid who once again proves he can only be called an actor on a technicality. Watching their relationship unfold on the screen is frustrating to say the least. The film fails to address the real animosity an interracial couple at that time would face and therefore misses an opportunity to make a powerful commentary on the American social norms. Also, the character of Jack McGurn does not need be in the film at all. His character just serves as a way to engage traditional American audiences and generally detracts from any points the film attempts to make.
There are several instances in the film which occur in the camp that are impactful. The discussion of the loyalty clauses the American government wanted the internees to sign and the dismal conditions within the camp were discussed and portrayed well. The film, however, choses to not focus on these events and instead continues to follow Jack McGurn and his struggles within the army. The film should have remained focused on the Kawamura family's experiences within the camp and attempt to portray the hardships and complex decisions which emerged during the course of the internment. Substance was sacrificed in this film in order to create a movie that would appeal to American audiences. Yet the film was still dismal by Hollywood standards as it had a cliché script, terrible acting, and overall muddle plot line which contained no resolution. I personally feel that if one is going to make a film about such as sensitive topic as Japanese Internment during World War II commercial goals should not be valued as much as concern for the memory of the victims and survivors.
As If I Am Not There (2010)
Emotionally taxing, but powerful film
As If I Am Not There is an extremely powerful film which accurately portrays life in a camp during a period of conflict. The film also confronts the narrative that all victims must be the "perfect victim" in order to receive sympathy. Set in the Bosnian countryside during the Bosnian War, the film does not shield the viewer from any of the horrors of the war. Several sequences within the film such as the scene depicting the routine killing of men of fighting age are incredibly difficult to watch. When the women are held at the camp, they are subject to numerous humiliation tactics, and several are sexually exploited. While the scenes are difficult to watch, they are representative of what a normal woman's experience within a camp would be like. The gravity of the scenes is aided by the lack of dialogue and the impressive performance by Natasa Petrovic, the lead actress. The lack of dialogue adds a certain gravity to the experiences of the women as there is very little that can be said about their experience; it can only be expressed through action. Petrovic performance demonstrates the impact conflicts have upon civilians, in particular victims of rape. She is able to convey feeling of both vulnerability and intense fear through her expressive body language and facial expressions.
During her period of internment, Petrovic's character Samira has to make difficult decisions about what actions she must take in order to survive. Samira engages in survival sex with the captain who runs her internment camp which is a decision heavily scrutinized by her fellow captives. This part of the film demonstrates that in order to survive in internment camp one usually has to engage in some morally questionable practices. Many Hollywood films which attempt to portray life within camps often portray the victim as both helpless and blameless. As If I Am Not There allows for the viewer to have a greater understanding of the moral dilemmas that emerge within the camp setting. Lastly, the film ends on an extremely powerful and profound note. While most films about surviving atrocities end on uplifting sentiments that supposedly speak to the strength of the human spirit, As If I Am Not There displays how one is permanently impacted by a camp experience. Samira has escaped Bosnia, but the war remains ever present in her life and directly impacts all of her experiences. The ending shows that intense trauma never really fades and leaves the viewer emotionally unsettled.
La vita è bella (1997)
Enjoyable, but room for improvement
The film La Vita è Bella probes an interesting question: should tragic events should always be presented in media as dramas. While there is validity to the belief that producing films about horrific events such as the Holocaust as comedies is insensitive, the film is successful in making the victims of the atrocities appear human. Through the use of comedy, the viewer feels emotionally connected to Guido Orefice and his son. The film is also successful in showing that life did not purely end when one was admitted into a concentration camp. Throughout their period of encampment, many prisoners engaged in discussion with one another about intellectual topics and strong emotional bonds were often forged within the camps. Many films about the holocaust fail to capture that the people within the camps would often develop "camp cultures" to combat their suffering. While the film is incredible inaccurate as it would have been impossible for a child as young as Guido's son, Giosuè, to survive within a concentration camp, La Vita è Bella is able to show that not every experience within the camp was inherently tragic and that every experience, even the most horrific experiences, are multifaceted.
The film, however, fails to truly illustrate the pandemonium that developes when a concentration camp closes. In contrast to the film, most concentration camps such as Dachau witnessed a sharp increase in the amount of prisoners prior to their capture by the Allied powers. While the film did depict the overall chaos which emerged when the camp was about to shut down, it would have been more realistic to have the camp population appear to grow as the film progressed. The population increase, however, could make it appear as if people were not dying at the camp and would have most likely undercut the majority of the humor in the final scenes of the film. Additionally, the film failed to portray what happened to the concentration camp victims once they were released. Many internees struggled to find basic necessities such as food or shelter following release, and many survivors had a hard time adjusting to life outside of the camp. Instead, the film end on the relatively uplifting note of the mother son reunion. The quality of the film, from both a historical and emotional perspective, would have been improved if the ending had been less positively by showing the adversity the mother and son following release.