Reno

Dec 4, 2016

8.0

**Far from the home, but the trouble's not over.** The renowned French filmmaker, Jacques Audiard back with this new sensational film. This time he has chosen to tell us the story of a Sri Lankan Tamil Eelam freedom fighter who had fled to France after the war, followed by his struggles in the new place. The entire film was in Tamil language, but there some French dialogues too. I have been waiting for this, even after I got many opportunities, I had postponed them for some reasons. Finally, I'm very happy for not just got over it, but for the film that has powerful contents to give a peek into the immigrant's lifestyle, I mean not in a pleasant way. Right now it is a huge issue around the world to curb the immigration, especially the illegal ones. But some reasons are really heartbreaking, like in the film 'The Good Lie'. Usually the people like in this story are not welcomed, so they have to lay low and swallow all the troubles they bump into. Sometime the events reflect what happened back in the homeland. In a such way this tale takes place where a civil war fighter, Dheepan, from Lanka lands in France with his fake family of a wife and a daughter named Yalini and Ilayaal respectively. In order to forget the past, he tries his best to start over a new life. Since he did not come wealth, he had to adapt whatever life offered to survive and to protect his family. Knowing living on the edge of the fire, they were left alone, but how long, because the fire flame always catches the vulnerable objects around it. So what comes later is the finale with a twist and to follow the end credits. I have seen many films about what this film was focused on, but this was somewhat different, mainly because of people from the culture of less known geographical area. I can understand Tamil, but I found hard to get this Sri Lankan Tamil lines. There were films about Sri Lankan refugees, those films like 'Nandha', 'Kannathil Muthamittal' are different kinds. Maybe this is the first western film to dig on Lankan Eelam topic, especially after the end of civil war and far away from the home. Though it does not take a side, except opening scene, the rest of the film is set in France. > "Sometimes, they say things and laugh. I understand all the word, but they don't sound funny" They have got a simple storyline, but developed to its best. The progression becomes stronger, particularly when it reaches the final stage. I think the filmmakers did a good research, especially the cultural differences to highlight. That's the most of the film concentrated to only on the one perspective, but the threats what people like them face was also brought into the narration. Like caught between the two worlds and culture, and to defend themselves, to do what has to be done. Very realistic approach, but the question is do the things like this happen in real, especially in France? If you like Jacques Audiard films, then you should not miss it at all. These main actors are kind of new in front of the camera and they were amazing. Technically as well the film sounds good, but as I had heard, the filmmakers were hurried to finish it off when the Cannes Film Festival was around the corner. I think they have managed everything properly, and you would too appreciate the effort once you watch it. It went to numerous film festivals and won some awards that includes Palme d'Or at Cannes. Kind of must see by the director's fans, even if you are not a fan, it is still worth a watch. Because you won't get another this or seen before. Even if you did, the cast wasn't the familiar one. That's the big difference here. The film has a message like, what one must be doing in his second chance of life. There are violences, feels strong, though the effects are raw, not the events or the scenes. Definitely not a masterpiece, but still I would recommend it for the adults. _8/10_

CinemaSerf

Apr 6, 2024

7.0

More like out of the "Dheepan" and into the fire! He (Jesuthasan Anthonythasan) is a Tamil separatist on Sri Lanka who is having to come to terms with the fact that their cause is lost. Fearing persecution, he decides to head to France where he can claim asylum. Along the way, he encounters "Yalini" (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) and her daughter "Illayaal" (Claudine Visasithamby) and concluding that all would do better if they claimed to be a family, try to seek safety. Oddly enough, their lack of French language skills and papers doesn't seem to inhibit their arrival in France, but the reward for their efforts is his care-taking work in a block of flats in a lawless Parisian suburb where there seems little evidence of police to patrol the streets run by heavily armed gangs of youths. His job as the janitor seems to give him and his family a degree of immunity from what can only be describes as cross-border violence, and his experiences at home ensure he is no shrinking violet, but watching the hostilities increase and become more and more violent, you just know that their precarious situation must be heading for a crescendo. The efforts from both leading actors here is commendable. Their character's struggles to survive, to get the girl to safety and their own aspirations for a decent life are very well presented by convincing performances. It also gives us a rather grisly look at life in some of the French communities that have long since been abandoned by the state. The subtitles sparingly interpret auteur Jacques Audiard's shared screenplay but what they miss in translation is evident as we watch the scenario of brutality, blood and bullets unfold in front of us. Might they have been safer staying at home? Scary stuff, this - and very realistic.