Review by
Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Haider Rashid
Starring: Adam Ali, Erfan Rashid, Gassid Mohammed, Svetlana Yancheva, Mohamed Zouaoui
Timely.
At the time of writing
2.5 million nationals
have fled Ukraine in hope of sanctuary from the senseless destruction of
their homeland. As we are arguably the most self-interested, insular
country on planet Earth, the impact of those seeking asylum here in the UK
has, however, been minimal, with figures "ranging" to
less than 1,000 (and,
yes, before the usual flag shaggers crop up in my dms, I am aware that on
the 10th March there were concessions which allowed Ukrainians with
passports to apply for visas here, but only via the disentanglement of a
byzantine web of bureaucracy; biometrics, unacquainted websites, etc).
Meanwhile, we ban Russia from Eurovision (as if it's the fault of the
already-suffered-enough gays), we seize the assets of some football
person, we wring our hands: big wows. Of course, Putin is deranged, and
calling his bluff is going to be calamitous. But I'm not talking about
retaliation, I am advocating the same compassion to the victims of war
modelled by Poland, by Italy, by the countries with which we share the
very world which hangs in the balance. Instead, we watch from a position
of luxury, tut-tutting while human beings huddle in fear at our borders,
and are ultimately refused shelter and protection. Priti Patel, Kevin
Foster, Boris Johnson, the media which has been an active agitator of
Britain's migrant-bashing tendencies, anyone who voted to support this
venal system: you make me fucking sick. You should be ashamed.
Haider Rashid's Europa (with writing support from
Sonia Giannetto and Erfan Rashid) is not explicitly about
the scandalous treatment of Ukrainian refugees by the UK Home Office, but
is instead an apt representation of the refugee experience, in which we
follow an Iraqi asylum seeker attempting to cross the Turkish-Bulgarian
boundary to reach "Fortress Europe."
It opens in a nerve wracked confusion which perpetuates throughout the
film: by furtive torchlight, money exchanges hands and orders are barked
at a beleaguered mass of men and women both young and old. A gate is
suddenly opened and we hone in on Kamal (Adam Ali) rushing through
it. Kamal races into further chaos across the border as waiting men grab
others who are on the run, fierce dogs bark, and guns are fired.
It feels unreal, like the Cornucopia in The Hunger Games or
something, except Rashid based his story on interviews and the actual
experiences of people who have survived similarly perilous journeys (the
sequence is preceded by intertitle cards which explicate the links between
criminal enterprise and border control, and how migrants are exploited by
both. It also explains the "Nationalist Civilians" who have set themselves
up as "Migrant Hunters," i.e., tough guys with guns picking off the
world’s easiest prey).
Escaped Kamal, in his Salah football shirt (a concession to the West's
seductive cultural imperialism), trudges through forests in searing
sunlight. He is wounded, half starved and dehydrated - we see him crack
the speckled cyan shell of a blackbird egg and gulp down the vivid yolk
within (kudos to Ali, whose performance is devastatingly physical -
dragging himself up, across, and through this unforgiving terrain).
Europa is respectively shot with an incessant urgency, the
sort of ruined energy you get when you're overtired, and at the edge of
your resolve. DoP Jacopo Caramella frames almost exclusively in
mid-shots or close up, which entails that we don't get the context of
Kamal's surroundings; like him, we have no idea where he is, or where he
is going. Discomfiting as this visual set is, it is essential to Rashid's
intentions: as we cut rapidly between shots a distinct agitation is
communicated, we feel Kamal's desperation as a branch cracks, potentially
heralding the gun toting men who pursue him, men whose familiarity with
the land, and resources, far outweigh that of our tattered protagonist.
It's gruelling to watch him. (A side note: is it me, or with that
embarrassing
The Hunt
film, the forthcoming Edgar Wright remake of The Running Man, the endless Purges, is there a resurgent vogue for films where people
hunt each other..?).
There are intermittent moments of humanity in Europa. A driver picks up a bleeding Kamal from the roadside. She shares her
water with him and seems set to get him to the hospital until the radio
(the Bulgarian equivalent of Julia Hartley Brewer?) babbles something
about "politicos....Syrians.... Iraqis," unnerving the woman enough to
jettison our boy (the sequence is masterful, with the non-conversant
audience compelled, just like Kamal, to pick out and make sense of vaguely
familiar words, too). Later, a farmer may or may not be a friend. But when
these instances occur, when someone offers Kamal kindness, your emotions
surge. Your eyes blur. And you wonder, have we fallen so far that
witnessing a person just doing something as simple and obvious as helping
a fellow human is so easily able to break your heart?
Europa is on Prime Video UK now.