Stimulating cinema: Welcome

Director: Philippe Lioret
Year released: 2010

The folks at Film Movement are responsible for this one, along with a number of other gems--all of astonishingly high artistic value. The review below was written by Stephen Holden and published in the New York Times on May 7, 2010.

Philippe Lioret's compelling, finely balanced immigration drama, "Welcome," is set mostly in Calais, the port in northern France that is the closest French city to Britain. Here, where on a clear day the cliffs of Dover are visible like a glimpse of the promised land, is where Bilal (Firat Ayverdi), a 17-year-old Kurd, lands on a chilly, bleak February afternoon in 2008.

Having spent three months traveling on foot from Mosul, Iraq, during which he was captured and held prisoner for eight days by the Turkish Army, Bilal is a stubborn fool for love who hopes to cross the English Channel to be with his Kurdish sweetheart, Mina (Derya Ayverdi, Mr. Ayverdi’s sister). But he is persona non grata with her family, which has settled in London, where her father plans to marry her off to a prosperous cousin who owns grocery stores.

Like few other films about illegal immigration and its perils, “Welcome” puts you so completely into the shoes of a young man facing almost insurmountable obstacles that you feel a profound empathy not only for him but also for all who are ready to risk everything for the dream of a better life. Mr. Ayverdi’s portrayal of a shy innocent driven by blind faith in himself and ferocious stamina finds exactly the right spirit of determination tinged with petulance to make him entirely believable.

Because Bilal finds a reluctant, and unlikely, champion in Simon (Vincent Lindon), a middle-aged swimming instructor at a public pool in Calais, the movie has a lot in common with "The Visitor," which portrayed a similar relationship. But its story has a more organic feel and deeper emotional resonance. Granite-faced and baggy-eyed, his mouth set in a tight line, Mr. Lindon’s Simon epitomizes a solid, stoic Gallic masculinity in the mold of Jean Gabin.

When Bilal enters his life, Simon is in the midst of being amicably divorced from his wife, Marion (Audrey Dana), a schoolteacher who helps run an outdoor soup kitchen for the city’s 500 or so illegal immigrants. The spur to Simon’s unexpected patronage of Bilal is Marion’s accusation that he is indifferent not only to her but also to the plight of those less fortunate. Her stinging criticism wakes Simon up to his own self-absorption at exactly the moment when Bilal visits the pool where Simon works, seeking lessons so that he can swim the English Channel in a wet suit.

Bilal has already blown his best chance of crossing the water safely, having borrowed 500 euros to pay a “handler,” who in an early scene smuggles him and several others in the belly of a truck bound for a ferry to England. During the trip, which involves putting a plastic bag over his face at checkpoints to foil sensors programmed to detect human activity, he panics and gives the group away.

Because Simon and Marion were childless, Bilal, without Simon’s quite realizing it, becomes his surrogate son. The most dedicated pupil Simon has ever had, Bilal makes astonishingly rapid progress, and eventually Simon takes him to the water’s edge for practice.

One of the film’s achievements is to put you just as much in Simon’s shoes as in Bilal’s. Simon’s cynicism and sense of caution are constantly pulling him back and making him question his impulse to help the boy. Tiny misunderstandings can flare into lightning rages if Simon thinks Bilal might be playing him for a sucker. And Bilal, for all his sweetness, is no meek little angel. Below his litanies of humble thank yous is a will of iron, along with a streak of avarice.

In agreeing to help an illegal immigrant, Simon is breaking the law. His neighbors complain to the police and insinuate that Simon is sleeping with Bilal. If it can be proven that he is sheltering the boy, Simon faces arrest and possible incarceration. Even Marion, who is amazed at his change of heart, decides that he is going too far.

When Bilal eventually undertakes the solo journey, the movie shows you just how perilous it is. Aerial views reveal the currents Bilal will be fending off, while sea-level shots in the choppy gray water, in which vessels loom like predatory monsters bobbing in and out of view, make you feel like a fragile, shivering dot. The same sense of visceral immensity is conveyed by scenes of giant trucks lined up to make the ferry crossing at twilight.

As deeply as it explores the souls of Bilal and his wary protector, “Welcome” evokes a world of overwhelming forces, both natural and social, plying the waters of history. These forces may be resisted, but they will not be stopped.