anninapluff Bem-Vindo Bilal is a seventeen-year-old refugee that has traveled from Iraq to Calais. He hopes his final destination will be in Britain to be reunited with his girlfriend. The stigma and hardships of refugee life are one of the most prevalent factors in this film. Bilal has faced trauma that stretches both throughout the film but also invokes a past. Bilal was clearly traumatized by having to put a bag over his head when he tried to smuggle himself to Britain in a truck. We later learn that officials forced a bag over his head at other point in time prior to the film as torture. Bilal has an uncommon resilience despite the challenges of his situation. He resolves to learn how to swim in order to swim across the English Channel. This goal leads him to meeting Simon, the swim coach who supports Bilal. Simon has an interesting character development throughout the film. At first he is very hesitant to help the refugees in any way, given there are strict laws against this sort of thing in France, but he nonetheless did maintain a slightly negative attitude. Bilal changes this. Simon tries to help and shelter Bilal and his friend, but the authorities of France threaten him. The legal status of these refugees comes across as highly ambivalent and the authorities themselves come across as extreme. Despite the difficulties in maintaining a leveled depiction of European law towards refugees, the film works well the develop the dark mood. There are rarely happy endings for the refugees. Bilal's failure to swim across the English Channel, after coming so close, seems to be the best representation of this. These people were treated with ambivalence by the states and for those lucky enough to receive the kindness of ordinary citizens, it was quickly stripped away. Overall the film might have been improved if it worked to incorporate the refugee experience within the camps. We get a short depiction of this early on but Bilal seems to just kind of pop into the narrative without a coherent backstory. Not all refugees were able to find a couch to sleep on like Bilal did. His experience may have been exceptional. I found Bilal to be rarely be afraid. I cannot imagine that someone in that situation would not at the very least express more emotion towards the prospect of unknowingness and unpredictability towards one's future.

shannonclare Calais, France has been a major refugee hub for decades as it has the port as well as the Channel Tunnel, the easiest way to get from France to England. Over the decades that refugees have been migrating, they have been attempting to access the UK by means of the Channel Tunnel and have created a camp, known as "The Jungle" which is a largely unregulated area in which refugees reside while they find the resources and courage to make their way to England. "Vem Vindo," or "Welcome" to English audiences follows the story of a single Kurdish refugee named Bilal who is trying to get to England, not only to find a better economic future, but more importantly for him, to reunite and marry his girlfriend. The film starts with Bilal's first attempt at gaining access to England, but he unfortunately fails, causing others to be captured and he himself captured, fingerprinted, and tried. As a political refugee Bilal is not repatriated to his home country, but is not granted any form of citizenship or status in France and becomes bound to the country through fingerprinting. The director, Phillipe Lioret, does a good job of portraying the isolation that refugees feel as a result of stigmatization by the French government and media sources, but he also incorporates the public empathy through the characters of Simon and Marion. Simon, a former swimming champion is reluctant to help the refugees, but after being reprimanded by his ex-wife, Marion, he welcomes Bilal and trains him to attempt to swim across the English Channel and escape his circumstances in France. Although this film is heartwarming and highlights the support many locals in Calais give to refugees, it is unfortunately the rare exception rather than the standard for refugees. The film does little to depict the actual horrors of "The Jungle" and the ways in which linguistic separation, fear, lack of resources, and governmental antagonism interact to create a lawless area in which many become stuck forever. "The Jungle" is much more than some men sleeping on the streets and robbing each other for resources. "The Jungle" is a full-fledged camp, simply without the walls and the organizational structures to support it. As such, "The Jungle" has transformed into a small society, with those of the same ethnicity and language helping each other, while also trying to do what's best for themselves. The film left these aspects of the Jungle largely unexplored, however, they are more representative of the true camp experience than a lucky, young boy who is able to sleep on a couch, take showers, and learn how to swim; the mainstream audience would rather see the latter. Although the film is flawed, it does do well to depict certain aspects of refugee life and the general governmental antagonism of refugees. The film depicts should be rewarded for depicting an often overlooked camp by US society and one that many may not think of as there are no physical bounds except for the dreaded Channel Tunnel.

bnair-14502 Historically, the struggle that immigrants had in trying to get to other countries without the right papers was definitely a real struggle especially when they were trying to get to their family. Just so happened that in this case, Bilal was motivated by his love for Mina and his longing for being with her for the rest of his life. Customs were so very strict, where those, who wanted to immigrate, had to sort of in a way smuggle themselves across borders. This was the case, especially in one of the beginning scenes, where Bilal and a group of other men were in a truck trying to get into the UK but Bilal could not breathe with the plastic bag over his head along with the fact that he was tortured with one, in Turkey, so they got caught. Another accurate depiction was through the fact that immigrants in France were labeled aliens. This was the case in many countries for people that were not born in the country they inhabited. Additionally in terms of the scenes and plot of this movie, I was very much expecting a happy ending with Bilal and Mina given that he was willing to put his life on the line trying to swim across the English Channel to reach her. Also, given that Simon was risking his reputation and lifestyle to help Bilal reach his girlfriend in the UK. Even though I am really upset, the fact that it was not what I was expecting, given that Bilal actually ended up dying, made me actually like the movie more since the unexpected happened.

Vihren Mitev This film deserves appreciation because of its importance and actuality of the topic that concerns. This film has also its high rating because without having a high claim for performance, it manages to rise above a number of titles that have such claim.Before our eyes it is revealed the true story of a boy seeking refuge and his beloved in Europe. With the price of all his efforts, if somewhat naively, he tries to implement custom solutions for the situation in which he is. Right from the start of the film we can discern the different way of thinking that he has and brings him to the fore front of all the others who expect only outside help.The film shows us how strong the power of love is and what are the true values in life. These values can not be given by chance but should be adopted as an internal ideology and its external appearance. Like all motivational films, telling about people who overextend themselves and reach the unattainable, this film goes to its "happy ending", to the point when we are reminded that real life is harsh and bitter and not everything happens like in movies.Therefore, this film I present as inspiration for giving personal example and constant feuding with injustice. Humble but strong, such as many others people, this is a movie for all those who need our help.http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.fr/