Review: Welcome by Philippe Lioret (finalist EuroParl Film Prize 2009)
Last night I stayed late and went to one of the screenings in the EuroParl building of one of the three films that are the finalists in this year's European Parliament Film Prize 2009 - the Prix Lux. As the result is to be announced while I am on mission in Strasbourg, it will be one of my assignments to file so I wanted to make sure I see the three films before heading to France in a fortnight.
The first I saw was a French film called "Welcome" directed by Philippe Lioret. It is the story of an Iraqi refugee, Bilal (above right, played by Firat Ayverdi) who had fled his war-torn country to head to England to rejoin his girlfriend. However, he has a problem, he cannot get to England, and he failed in his attempt to smuggle his way in illegally in the back of a haulage truck.
Gazing across the Channel on the beach of Calais, he formulates a new plan: to swim, and immediately uses his limited money to take up swimming lessons at the local pool. It is there that he meets Simon (above left, played by Vincent Lindon), an instructor, lifeguard and a former national swimming champion, who has problems of his own.
In the process of being divorced by his wife, he is depressed and in light of the young Kurd's determination for love decides to take a big risk and try to train Bilal to enable him to swim the Channel.
In the film Simon laments how Bilal had walked hundreds of miles for three months, across dozens of foreign countries in the name of love for his girlfriend while he couldn't even cross the road to save his own marriage. The two troubled men discover that they have much in common, and their friendship develops into a strong bond that will prove necessary for both men to realise their dreams for a happy future.
The film, which has apparently seen huge success at the French box office, not only addresses some of the pressing social issues of the day and the tricky issue of immigration controls, but is a truly touching, heart-warming and delightful portrayal of one person's kindness that is perhaps not as present in today's society as it should be.
Welcome: Film trailer (in French)
It is a marvellously produced film and certainly merits its status as one of the three finalists. It only wets my appetite further for viewing the other two contenders in the near future...
Read more about the Film Prize at: http://www.lux-prize.eu/.
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