In This World

Michael Winterbottom's superb quasi-documentary film, shot in an appropriately gritty style, is a harrowing portrait of people-smuggling from the Third World--as two Afghani cousins illegally attempt to make their way from a Pakistani refugee camp to England. After their family pays up front, precocious Jamal and older, slower Enayat travel overland through Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, avoiding border guards and police, before being confined in a ship's hold for transport to Italy; the route then proceeds to a French camp in anticipation of the final channel crossing. What makes their experience so wrenching to watch is the precisely detailed storytelling: there's an absolute naturalness in the painfully uncertain succession of events as the men sometimes meet with kindness but mostly with harshness or simple indifference along the way. In This World never becomes a mawkish fable about the indomitable human spirit; the cousins are hopeful and persevering, but the film never deludes us into thinking that a positive attitude ensures success, and the story takes a deeply ironic and quietly devastating turn towards the close. Though a bit didactic at first, once it hits its stride Winterbottom's eloquent picture resembles a modern version of De Sica's great neorealist classics. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD extras include 31 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by director Michael Winterbottom and co-writer Tony Grisoni, a brief director's intro segment, trailers, and DVD-ROM production notes and biographies. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small but outstanding film.] (F. Swietek)