Limbo (2020)
Country: GB
Technical: col/1.37:1/2.39:1(ending only) 104m
Director: Ben Sharrock
Cast: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah
Synopsis:
A group of asylum seekers live out their days on a remote Scottish island while their cases are processed, attending English classes, phoning home, waiting for the postman in his van. One of them, a Syrian musician, is particularly burdened by thoughts of the family left behind.
Review:
The Forsythian humour sometimes skirts self-consciousness (the telephone box as lifeline to the outside world, the opera buff postie) but is nevertheless welcome in a narrative that could otherwise be oppressive. The performances from the central quartet of strangers thrown together are uniformly excellent, the camera positioned confessionally close, aided by the Academy format. The shift to widescreen for the concert seems to herald a classic moment of triumph, but the director pulls us away inside Omar's head, reminding us that it will take more than this to bring him home. Altogether an impressive first feature, using humour, tragedy and fantasy to evoke the immigrant experience, even if Omar's toting around of his oud case becomes as burdensome a metaphor as Django's coffin.
Country: GB
Technical: col/1.37:1/2.39:1(ending only) 104m
Director: Ben Sharrock
Cast: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah
Synopsis:
A group of asylum seekers live out their days on a remote Scottish island while their cases are processed, attending English classes, phoning home, waiting for the postman in his van. One of them, a Syrian musician, is particularly burdened by thoughts of the family left behind.
Review:
The Forsythian humour sometimes skirts self-consciousness (the telephone box as lifeline to the outside world, the opera buff postie) but is nevertheless welcome in a narrative that could otherwise be oppressive. The performances from the central quartet of strangers thrown together are uniformly excellent, the camera positioned confessionally close, aided by the Academy format. The shift to widescreen for the concert seems to herald a classic moment of triumph, but the director pulls us away inside Omar's head, reminding us that it will take more than this to bring him home. Altogether an impressive first feature, using humour, tragedy and fantasy to evoke the immigrant experience, even if Omar's toting around of his oud case becomes as burdensome a metaphor as Django's coffin.
Country: GB
Technical: col/1.37:1/2.39:1(ending only) 104m
Director: Ben Sharrock
Cast: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah
Synopsis:
A group of asylum seekers live out their days on a remote Scottish island while their cases are processed, attending English classes, phoning home, waiting for the postman in his van. One of them, a Syrian musician, is particularly burdened by thoughts of the family left behind.
Review:
The Forsythian humour sometimes skirts self-consciousness (the telephone box as lifeline to the outside world, the opera buff postie) but is nevertheless welcome in a narrative that could otherwise be oppressive. The performances from the central quartet of strangers thrown together are uniformly excellent, the camera positioned confessionally close, aided by the Academy format. The shift to widescreen for the concert seems to herald a classic moment of triumph, but the director pulls us away inside Omar's head, reminding us that it will take more than this to bring him home. Altogether an impressive first feature, using humour, tragedy and fantasy to evoke the immigrant experience, even if Omar's toting around of his oud case becomes as burdensome a metaphor as Django's coffin.