By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Enayatullah | Hiddayatullah | Imran Paracha | Jamal Udin Torabi
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2003
Running time: 88
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310154/combined
Bruce says: “Michael Winterbottom is one of the most versatile and prolific directors around. Although he had done much TV work and some feature films that had not found general release, he garnered a cult following with his BUTTERFLY KISS and his powerful but solemn JUDE, based on the Thomas Hardy classic, Jude the Obscure. In 1997 WELCOME TO SARAJEVO was released; it became his breakthrough film. Using the war in Bosnia as backdrop, Winterbottom captured the craziness of war zone reporting, at the same time giving equal due to the horrors and foolishness of the war. It was a film with a big heart. I’m still haunted by it. In 1999 he delivered WONDERLAND a lyrical, bittersweet story of dysfunctional empty-nesters and their four maladjusted adult children. How unfortunate that it was released in a year of DANCER IN THE DARK, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Although I did not care for it, his next film, 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, had many fans. (Eds. note: Winterbottom also released THE CLAIM in 2001 which garnered a Best Actress nomination for Sarah Polley.)
“Now Winterbottom has stepped into new territory, carrying along his old theme of the ravages of war. IN THIS WORLD is a docudrama which tells the story of two young Afghani refugees living in Pakistan. Enayatullah’s father wants him to have a decent life and insists he go to London where it is more likely he will have a future. In Pakistan he will be destined to a life of meager opportunity, listening to his Sony Walkman as he works in the dirt packed bazaars outside the refugee camps. There are
two seemingly insurmountable obstacles to reaching London; as a refugee he has no papers and he cannot speak English. It is decided that Jamal Udin Torabi, a much younger orphaned boy who speaks English should travel to London with Enayatullah.
“There is a huge black market for smuggling refugees from war-torn countries, and a complex underground operation that supports it. IN THIS WORLD documents the journey as the two boys travel by land from Pakistan, through Iran, Turkey and Western Europe en route to London. They travel under the worst imaginable circumstances, constantly threatened by opportunists, police, and border patrols. They must bribe their way from country to country, hide from authorities to avoid imprisonment, and figure out which of the many underground connections they can trust and which ones they can’t. This world is horrifying and fascinating at the same time.
“In a way, IN THIS WORLD could be an action film or a thriller, were it not a true story with the boys actually playing themselves. I give Winterbottom a lot of credit for exposing the mean-spirited mechanisms that flourish alongside the cheerleading and flag-waving photo-ops the media selects for depicting our modern wars. It appears that in his rush to have a topically significant film, Winterbottom sacrificed an in-depth look at the underground operations. The boys unfortunately seem two dimensional as well. 3.5 Cats”