In This World
Michael Winterbottom's amazingIn This Worldis a docudrama that reportedly re-creates the harrowing journey of two young Afghan males smuggled, one step at a time, from a long-established refugee camp in Pakistan across central Asia to their London destination. Shot with remarkable fluidity and narrative thoroughness in what appears many times to be dangerous situations with border guards and untrustworthy handlers (in Iran, Istanbul, Turkey, and France),In This Worldis anchored by non-actors Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah, playing characters of the same names. The rapid pace and frequent fade-outs in this 88-minute film paradoxically force one's imagination to underscore the agonizing slowness and anxiety of the young men's trip, a technique that becomes nightmarish when Jamal and Enayat are locked for days, with other refugees, inside a ship's container. Winterbottom (24-Hour Party People) and his characteristically protean style maintain remarkable inventiveness throughout.--Tom Keogh