Michael Winterbottom’s In This World is a wonderfully realised piece of film where two Afghans, Jamal and Enayatullah, embark on a journey of suffering to head to London in order to better their lives from the bombarded and once beautiful country of Afghanistan. Their means of escape is to go through people traffickers, involving a journey of pain and torment as well as no guarantee of success.
The two individuals aren’t too familiar with each other and bond during their journey heading across Asia and Europe. They travel from Afghanistan to Iran, back to Pakistan before they head towards Turkey and are thrown in a lorry to be ferried across to Western Europe. Their new found friendship is tested when they are caught by patrols across the border early on, and Jamal has to bribe the patrol officer with Enayat’s Walkman. Worse is to come, however, than just losing a Walkman as their will and stamina is tested.
Although a film, Winterbottom’s film seems confused initially offering some narration and voice over, as well as statistical facts about how much America spent to destory Afghanistan and the comparitive and disgusting amount spent in food for the people who are just trying to survive. After arriving in Iran, the narration ends and you’re left in a sort of audience limbo, expecting some interesting facts. It doesn’t happen, and the documentary-cum-film continues as a film.
In many ways it reminds me of Ke Ke Xi Li, another beautiful and incrediblely raw film about a world we rarely see. This is yet another film in that mould, but it doesn#t quite achieve the same level of realism of the former. There’s a few reasons for this, and one of them has already been mentioned with regards to the confusing nature of whether they’re creating a documentary or a film. The second is that for most of the film it manages to convince the audience that these two are genuinely taking a real journey to London, suffering and all. However, it feels fake at one point in the film, and that false reality grows deeper with the feeling that it’s just a bunch of actors.
It’s a shame, as for two thirds of the film it does really, really well in creatying sympathy for the two protagonists who endure harsh weather, cramped conditions and a desperation to reach a land of opportunity which is still not possible back home where civil war and invasions are all they know. Rations are what they consider food, with medical care and education non-existent.
In This World does still manage to engross the viewer, and feel something for the individuals, particulary as tragedy strikes as you’ve probaly read about often enough when those who are shipped like sardines in a can across a ferry suffer from illness and even death. A similar tragedy befalls our companions, and their fellow travellers. The film isn’t justifying the means by which these individuals are trying to escape their worn torn countries, nor it is trying to play for sympathy with regards to opening the gates for mass immigration. What it does do is remind the viewer that these are human beings too, that they do want the same as everyone, and the only reason they end up working in some crap whole for a few pounds a week is because of the hell they endure to get here.
The West has often, over the decades, bomb the hell out of other countries, invade them and leave them on the brink of civil war. It’s a simplistic summary, but it’s a reality that exists. The Afghan’s weren’t exactly rewarded when they helped to stop the invasion of Communism, and nor were they helped in rebuilding a country desimated by bombing. What was once land with fields are now either shanty towns and rubble. Things are changing, but it’s taken too long. Help those to help themselves, and they won’t need to kill themselves trying to cross the border.
Another element and reminder that In This World provides is that the colour of your skin does not make you allies with those of similar skin. Each country, even if it has fellow religious types, has rule that govern their country and like any other nation, does not like individuals trying to sneak in or across their land. This idea that neighbouring countries are all buddies is a genuine myth that is convincingly potrayed here.
The cinematography at times is really breathtaking. Even with rocky lands, desert roads and make-shift homes, they can look stunning in the right light, the right sky, the right hour. The filming of different locations is equally interesting, and whether intentional or not, but we start with land as far as the eye can see, with a bright, burning sun to the crappola of bad weather, and ugly blocks called buildings. It’s an interesting contrast, and one that grows with each destination.
In This World has quite a few flaws that make it difficult to grade this as a wholly satisfying experience. Many elements of both performance and direction made the experience a little unconvincing, and spoil a film that is mostly good. The last half hour is the least interesting, not because Jamal finally reaches his destination, but it’s done so haphazardly that we don’t actually know how he got to where he did. I’m not looking for detail, but the script and the direction seem to falter for a quick resolution rather than providing the meat and bones.
Talking of which, if you’re the liberal anti-animal cruelty type then you may not wish to watch this as there is a real slaughtering of an animal. It’s done as a sacrifice, I think, but it might be considered gruesome enough with the neck being sliced, the insides coming out, and the binded legs and body still twicthed with a head that is only partially cut off and hanging lopsided. If it does bother you, then I suppose you could visit them and their Ak-47’s and make your point.
Finally, I think this film does at least shy away from providing the stereotype I just used with the Ak-47 reference. These are your average civilians, not freedom fighters. They don’t carry weapons, they can’t even afford food in general I expect, so at the very least it presents the Afghan, the vast majority, as decent people who don’t value or appreciate war and death. Like yourself and I, they just want to live peacefully, get by, and not be a bother to others, or be bothered. You won’t see kids wiedling a machine gun, as a form of propaganda (and it is propaganda rather than a grand reality), but kids isntead playing football across the dry and dusty land. Kids being kids, and behaving as such with not a weapon in sight. It captures something I think that hasn’t been captured before, particularly with such cynical media.
The positives outweigh the negatives for In This World, and is a credit to both Winterbottom’s skill and intelligent direction to capture and provide a sympathetic ear to those escaping from a world of emptiness in the pursuit of something greater, even if it costs them their life. It offers a positive spin from the deluge of mass negativity given towards such countries and its people. From the shady characters the individuals meet, to the people they befriend, In This World is best summed as an experience that is beautifully shot and memorable in equal measure.
Verdict: Flawed film-cum-documentary of a perilous journey to a better life. Worthy of attention