Welcome (Drama)

In Calais (France), illegal immigrants are anything but...welcome. “Welcome” is a French film by a French director (Phillipe Lioret) about Bilal, a 17 year old Kurdish refugee from Iraq who desperately wants to get to London. Whilst the film’s context is the highly political issue of illegal immigration, it is first and foremost a love story following two beautiful romances. And for anyone who is normally put off foreign films on account of their subtitles, both English and French versions of this film have been made, so this time you’ve got no excuse! And there’s no need to find an excuse, this film is amazing.

Bilal (played by Firat Ayverdi) has spent 3 months travelling across Europe in order to get to England to find his girlfriend Mina (romance number 1). He finally reaches Calais, to discover hundreds of illegal immigrants with the same plan who have been waiting for weeks, sometimes months to raise enough money to pay for illegal transport to London. The immigration laws and local authorities are clamping down on illegal immigrants, so Bilal decides to take up swimming lessons, in an effort to cross the bitterly cold and treacherous 32 kilometres of the English Channel. It is at his first public pool visit that he meets Simon Calat (Vincent Lindon), a middle aged swim coach who is something of a lost soul. They both need each other’s help to get where they want to go. Bilal is a hopeless swimmer and needs Simon’s coaching desperately if he has any hope of crossing the channel successfully. Simon is still reeling from losing his ex wife Marion (played by Audrey Dana), and initially agrees to train Bilal in the hope of impressing Marion who helps organise an illegal soup kitchen for the immigrants (enter romance number 2). The two men develop a friendship as Simon is shaken from his own bitterness by Bilal’s unshakeable optimism, so much so that he continues to train him after he realises Bilal’s intent, and at times, even shares his home with Bilal despite the fact that he could quite possibly face five years imprisonment.

I had rushed to the theatre from work to see this film with my mum so I could spend some “quality” time with her before I went away for the Easter long weekend. At the end of this film, my mum turned to me and said – ‘Isn’t it incredible how god damn difficult life is for some people”? But when I arrived I was flustered about the traffic, annoyed that my boyfriend had left his bike out in our kitchen again, stressed out about having to squeeze four days work into five on account of the long weekend. Yes Em, life is difficult for some people – and you’re definitely not one of them! .

Apparently the movie, which first hit French screens, did so amid significant controversy after a government minister claimed it portrayed a sympathetic view of illegal immigrants and those that offer them food and shelter. However, the film went on to elicit significant public sympathy for the harsh policies of the Sarkozy's Government and ended up being one of the biggest hits of the year with 1.2 million admissions, and several local and international awards. But the film is impactful exactly because it isn’t focussed on making a political statement. Simon’s character is particularly powerful because he is quite apolitical, he doesn’t actually care about the issue of immigration – as his ex wife says to him angrily after they powerlessly watch two young refugees being refused entry to the supermarket – “you just turn your back and go home”. Rather than the broader political context, it is Bilal’s personal story that makes Simon change his behaviour, and it is in this way that Lioret managed to make an apolitical film that elicited such public sympathy about a highly political issue.

Obviously, here in Australia, parallels can be made with the boat people and the related issues we are currently dealing with. Not that the film offers any answers, but it powerfully reminds you that there are individual dreams at stake. The power in this simple tale is that in exploring a single immigrants heartbreaking story and motivations, Lioret made me wonder about the hundreds and thousands of individual stories that exist when countries make collective decisions about the fate of immigrants. And it made me think about the fact that the people making these decisions are most often far removed from those individual stories.

I read a review that commented on how similar Bilal and Simon’s personalities were, which I found interesting given I found them to be quite different. The only similarity I observed is that they are both extremely stubborn but otherwise one man is eternally optimistic and the other is bitterly cynical; one man is trusting and the other trusts no one; one man is fundamentally happy despite the fact that the odds are stacked against him and the other is weighed down by a constant heavy sadness. For one man, he loses his love and is willing to do anything at all costs to get her back, the other loses his love and his whole life shuts down. Simon becomes painfully aware of this difference himself during one point in the film when he shamefully admits to his ex wife: “I couldn’t even cross the road to get you back”. But these differences are exactly what makes this friendship so engaging and is a reminder, that so often in life, it is not our circumstances that results in us being happy or sad, or being successful or unsuccessful, but rather it is our innate personalities.

I highly recommend “Welcome” – it’s confronting, uplifting, educational, awe inspiring, and entertaining. As far as I’m concerned, you are welcome to enjoy the flawless performances of the novice actors who play Bilal and Mina, and the raw and engaging performances of the more seasoned actors who play Simon and his ex wife. You are welcome to be inspired by one man’s optimism and determination to pursue his dream, despite that fact that the odds are completely stacked against him. You are welcome to marvel at the inhumane treatment of immigrants who have often already faced significant atrocities in the homelands that they flee and wonder about the thousands of individual stories we ignore during our public and private immigration debates. You’re welcome to feel a tinge of guilt after some much needed perspective when you realise that life IS really difficult for some people, but generally those “people” don’t sit in our socioeconomic bracket. And you are welcome to try and find fault in this film, because I couldn’t.

• Lioret spend 6 weeks living with the refugees, day and night in the last two weeks. It’s no wonder the film has been complimented for its amazingly genuine portrayal of their plight.
• In an interview with Lioret in Sydney recently here to promote the film, he spoke about the challenge in casting Bilal – in particularly finding a Kurd that could swim, play football, and speak English.
• Apparently they first cast Derya (who plays girlfriend Mina) and so they asked her if she knew any other Kurds who would be appropriate to play Bilal. She told Lioret that her own brother “speaks English, can swim but he doesn’t care at all for acting and he’s a jerk”! Lioret has since admitted that when he came in for casting he did find her brother to be a jerk but that he was the only person who touched him with his innocence and his naturalness.
• Lioret was asked by the Opposition in France if he'd agree to a screening of the film in Parliament in order to try and change the law - which he did but unfortunately the French Government, having the majority, still refused to change the law.

Alice in Wonderland (Fantasy)

How good is Gold Class?! I love being greeted at the door and personally escorted to my big red comfy seat. I love flipping through the menu and deciding which unnecessary treats I’ll have brought to me and at what time. I love kicking off my shoes and reclining with a glass of red wine in anticipation of the upcoming movie. Gold Class just makes the whole movie experience more enjoyable. So much so that I may’ve found even less to enjoy about “Alice in Wonderland” had I not at least had the consolation of seeing it Gold Class style. The latest film version of Lewis Carroll’s classic fairytale, Alice in Wonderland, is directed by Tim Burton who is best known for his film noir including Edward Scissorhands and McSweeney Todd. Usually I love watching Burton films, but after seeing “Alice in Wonderland” I’ve decided he should stick to dark adult movies, fairytales Burton-style don’t really work – even in Gold Class.

“Alice in Wonderland” is essentially a sequel to Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’. In this version, the 19 year old Alice (played by the Australian Mia Wazakowski) returns to the magical world of her childhood adventures. She reunites with her old friends: the White rabbit, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Chesire Cat, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee (both played by Matt Lucas of Little Britain fame), and the Blue Caterpillar. In Burton’s film, Alice is the daughter of a wealthy businessman who has since passed away and is now feeling trapped in a world of proper etiquette. The movie begins at a garden party that Alice soon discovers is to be her engagement party. She is set to marry a very unattractive, but wealthy ginga called Hamish (played by Leo Hill). As she’s dealing with the terribly confronting news that she is expected to marry someone she doesn’t love, Alice becomes distracted by a rabbit in a white coat. After completely embarrassing the ginga by failing to give him an answer in front of hundreds of guests, she tells him she needs a moment, runs off to follow the white rabbit and subsequently falls down a hole..

I found the storyline bizarre, but maybe that’s mostly because I was hoping for a story a bit closer to the original. Apparently Tim Burton has said that he had never felt an emotional connection with the story Alice in Wonderland because it simply felt like some girl wandering around meeting one crazy character after another. So rather than make a film about a series of random events, he wanted to make it a story. I found this particularly ironic given that I actually came away from the movie feeling like it was a series of random encounters with one strange character after another.

It’s worth mentioning that “Alice in Wonderland” is another 3D movie. I’m still not sure how I feel about 3D but apparently it’s here to stay. Like Avatar (although admittedly the effects for Avatar were a million times more impressive), I thought the whole 3D experience was amazing for the first hour or so - I even physically ducked a couple of times in my seat as Alice threw things at me – but after a while I just found it distracting and really wanted to take off those ridiculous glasses. With all the advances in technology you would think they could make some relatively cheap but not unattractive 3D glasses wouldn’t you? Personally I think the old cardboard versions with one red cellophane eye and one green one was preferable.

On a positive note, the film did include engaging and entertaining performances by several perfectly cast actors. Unfortunately, Alice wasn’t one of them. I felt she wore the same expression and tone the entire movie and found her to be quite devoid of emotion which is such a shame for the character whom the movie is named after. Johnny Depp on the other hand was incredible as the Mad Hatter – he came across as Mad as a cut snake. And maybe that’s simply because he is mad, rather than being a testament to his incredible acting talent! Either way, the screen lit up every time he appeared. Helena Bonham Carter was also awesome as the Red Queen. She was positively awful and detestable just as she was meant to be. I also particularly enjoyed Stephen Fry as the voice of the Chesire Cat and Paul Whitehouse as the March Hare.

The film also deserves credit on account of the many fun and valuable lessons for kids it effectively incorporates into the story. It even served as a great reminder for adults! For example, there’s the reminder about the power of daring to imagine, and daring to dream. I love Alice’s conversation with the Mad Hatter when she says: “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast” “That is an excellent practice” says the Hatter. I could benefit from believing a few impossible things before breakfast.

I also liked the reminder about being careful not to lose your spirit as you move through life given that expectations and obligations can start to weigh us down. Sometimes we all need someone to remind us about the childhood spirit we once had when we were free of expectations, just like the Mad Hatter does for Alice upon being reintroduced when he exclaims: “You used to be much more muchier. You’ve lost your muchness”. We could all get a little muchier.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, there were a couple of real missed opportunities in Burton’s adaptation. Firstly, there were a number of interesting things that were touched on in the script but never really developed. For example, the desirableness of madness is a theme running throughout the movie. As the Mad Hatter says several times - “Mad is best” (perhaps Burton is trying to reassure himself!). Alice’s father also fondly tells Alice that ‘all the best people are mad”. I thought this was a great underlying theme that could’ve been used to explore the character’s motivations a little deeper and help really tie the story together. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Another disappointment for me was the final battle during which Alice is prophesised to slay the Jabberwocky and overthrow the Red Queen so that Wonderland can again be free. Unfortunately the final battle scene is quite underwhelming. If it weren’t for Johnny Depp’s funderwhack dance (which even I have to admit is particularly impressive in 3D), the last scene would’ve been completely anti-climactic.

So whilst I think “Alice in Wonderland” is a reasonable good family film, is visually entertaining, full of gorgeous costumes, and includes a delightful take on some of the whimsical characters from one of my favourite childhood tales, overall I found the movie disappointing. In short: not much happens, there are too many under developed characters, and for the most part the narrative is pretty uninteresting. In conclusion, if you’ve got young kids, “Alice in Wonderland” will make for a fun family outing during the school holidays. If you’re without kids, be sure to see this film Gold Class with a big glass of vino and a cheese platter - otherwise the film alone is likely to leave you feeling underwhelmed.

• “Alice in Wonderland” marks the 7^th time Johhny Depp has worked with Burton and the 6^th time for Helen Bonham Carter.
• The name of Alice’s father, Charles, is thought to be a tribute to Lewis Carroll, the author of both ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’, also known as Charles Dodgson.
• There are lots of references to both Alice in Wonderland and also ‘Through the Looking Glass” throughout the film. For example, the Red Queen has a rivalry with the White Queen, as she does in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ but the character in all other ways is based on the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, including her obsession with decapitation, and her love of Flamingo and Hedgehog croquet.