Dheepan, 2015.
Directed by Jacques Audiard.
Starring Faouzi Bensaidi, Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Vincent Rottiers, Claudine Vinasithamby and Marc Zinga.
SYNOPSIS:
Three Sri Lankan refugees come together to forge a fake a family to flee from the conflict and emigrate to a banlieue in France, where they begin to etch out a living against such harsh conditions.
Under the pseudonym of Dheepan, former Tiger Tamil fighter (portrayed by Jesuthasan Antonythasan a former real life counterpart), whose family has been killed amidst the conflict, aligns himself with Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan). Yalini has taken nine-year-old orphan Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby) as her biological daughter, and the three make haste for Europe.
Akin to Jacques Audiard’s prior work (Rust and Bone, A Prophet) the film is at a slow, melancholic pace to allow the audience to be immersed. The issues of cultural integration are downplayed to allow the trio to convey their multi-faceted characteristics, and to highlight a realist truth of these multi-ethnic banlieues (these Parisian housing estates are known for such diversity). And further compliments are found in the nonexistence of racial tensions; on the contrary, local thug leader Brahim (Vincent Rottiers) bluntly asks Yalini of particular cultural idiosyncratic behaviour. In short, it paces itself to highlight the pain and the frustration of the trio, as well as their successes. With a film tackling such prominent issues given the contemporary political milieu, it is nice to focus on the humanity coursing through this uncertain climate.
Audiard’s depiction of time is emphasised through the usage of costume, customs, and language. When they first meet Youssouf (Marc Zingha), where he assigns Dheepan with a caretaking job for the estate opposite their dilapidated apartment, run by a gang of thugs, the trio only know the odd French word like ‘bonjour’, ‘oui’, and ‘non,’ but they are soon able to understand complex sentences, and can engage in an appropriate, albeit polite, manner. Their increase in financial wealth is depicted on-screen in a similar fashion, so one is able to accumulate these visual signifiers as the passing of time.
The screenplay compliments for the aforementioned visuals with dialogue that economises exposition and focuses on character. With a character study approach to its subject matters of integration and identity, Audiard gives the actors plenty of space to project some of the film’s more intimate moments. The chemistry between Jesuthasan Antonythasan and Kalieaswari Srinivasan is particularly strong; despite their semi-amateur performing background, they are able to portray in a realist manner such moments of affection, psychological torment, and light humanist humour. This multitude of emotional states intensifies their plight and their successes. Further, their ability to balance expressivity and self-restraint allows the audience to tease out certain moments of ambivalence – are they as close as one thinks? How far has the mask of their lie slipped?
Dheepan comes at a particular time in human history where such global conflicts dominate the news feed. Jacques Audiard replaces a preachy rhetoric with sincerity. And with the captivating performances from across the board, ranging from its professionals to the semi-amateur, this film will keep audiences engaged throughout. In short, this is a great modern survival story that is worthy of your attention.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Matthew Lee
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published April 6, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
