In the world of modern British films, no filmmaker has been more prolific or diverse as Michael Winterbottom. From films like the lesbian road movie “Butterfly Kisses”, the period piece “Jude”, the sexually-charged “I Want You”, the family drama “Wonderland”, the Alaskan miners story of “The Claim”, to his most recent film, 2002’s "24 Hour Party People” about the Manchester music scene of the late 70s to the early 90s. For Winterbottom, there have been no boundaries on what he could do. Shortly after completing "24 Hour Party People” for a 2002 release, Winterbottom challenged himself once again as a filmmaker. This time with the political turmoil over the recent 9/11 attacks in New York City and with Islamic countries coming under heavy fire, Winterbottom chose to go into Pakistan for a harrowing journey of two Afghan boys in search of freedom entitled “In This World”.

“In This World” is a part-epic film, part road-drama, and part foreign film. Directed by Winterbottom with a screenplay by Tony Grisoni, “In This World” is about two Afghan teenagers in a Pakistan refugee camp deciding to seek refuge in London. Leaving their families behind, the two boys go through the sections of Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Italy, France, and London, in a four-month trip from February to June 2002. Along the way, they endure political strife, cultural differences, and tragedy where freedom is come at a whole lot of costs. Winner of the 2003 Golden Bear prize at the Berlin Film Festival along with the British Academy Award for Best Non-English film, “In This World” is an amazing journey in today’s chaotic world from one of Britain’s finest directors.

The film begins in February 2002 in Peshawar, Pakistan, near the border of Afghanistan where already, refugees from the war-torn country are fleeing. Living in the Peshawar camp is a small, 16-year old boy named Jamal (Jamal Udin Torabi). Living with his little brother and relatives, Jamal is seeking to get out of Pakistan with the war between the U.S. and Al-Qaeda increasing. With an older teenager named Enayat (Enayatullah), the two meet with men who are trying to get Afghans out of Pakistan. Jamal and Enayat take the offer with some money given to them for currency exchange in Iran along with some supplies needed. Jamal gets ready to leave as he bids farewell to his family along with Enayat as they make their way to Quetta, Pakistan for their first stop.

During their trip to Quetta, section patrolmen who are watching stop them and Jamal gives one of the patrolmen Enayat’s Walkman as a bribe. Enayat couldn’t believe that Jamal forced him to give him that but sacrifices had to be made. After stopping in Quetta, they drive south all the way to the Iranian border where they stop in a town. They meet a man who gives them shelter and new clothes so they wouldn’t be suspected of being Afghans. Plus, they also had to talk in another Islamic dialect for more proof. After a few days, they take a bus but a patrolman stops the bus and learns that the two are Afghans were they were sent back to Pakistan on April 2, 2002. They are back in a Pakistan town for a few days where they get help and take a bus all the way to Tehran.

After a few days in Tehran, they take another car that will lead them to a nearby refugee camp in the Kurdistan Mountains where they meet fellow Kurdish refugees. They walk to the Iranian-Turkish border where they arrive in Turkey and stay at another camp. For the next several days, Enayat and Jamal worked in a factory to take them on a trip to Istanbul so they can take a ship with fellow Kurds to go to Italy. After days of working, trouble began to brew and the two companions set on a ride to Istanbul where they and fellow Kurdish refugees including a baby are in a metal compartment so they can smuggle themselves on a ship to Catanzaro, Italy. During the 40-hour stay in the metal compartment, everyone begins to lose their breath and upon their arrival, everyone but Jamal and the baby were the ones to survive but the rest had either passed out or died. Jamal is forced to survive by himself where he steals a woman’s purse to buy a train ticket to Paris and then go a nearby camp near the English Channel where he meets Yusef. Yusef helps him to get to his arrival to London in June where Jamal makes it but at a lot of cost along with a very uncertain future.

Shot in DV-video handheld camera, “In This World” almost has a Dogme 95-like feel, especially in that same realm director Michael Winterbottom used with cinematographer Robby Muller. The only differences is that the cinematography by Marcel Zyskino is more exquisite and ravishing in conveying the realism the journey with Winterbottom’s fluent direction that gives the audience a real third-person view as if we’re in the journey as well. With only a small crew filming that included Winterbottom, Zyskino, and sound mixer Stuart Wilson, the film is given a minimalist feel with its jerky camera angles and worldly wide-angle shots. Tony Grisoni’s screenplay gives the film a very simplistic tone, particularly in an epic-like journey where it relies on its simplicity and improvisational dialogue with its main characters.

To call “In This World” a foreign film made by a British director seems to be very pig-headed when really, it’s a world film. The performances by Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah aren’t just realistic but also compelling and sympathetic. Torabi brings the more intellectual approach to his relationship with Enayatullah where he teaches him a bit of English and street skills. Enayatullah meanwhile, is more of the adult in the film and is more of a dream than his younger companion. These performances along with smaller roles throughout the film are very natural, particularly since they’re playing as themselves and bringing light to the Islamic culture of Pakistan and Iran.

The cultural differences of this film is very stimulating to watch whereas Pakistan seems to be more in a Third World kind of background with its camps and abandoned buildings. Iran is a bit more modern, especially in it’s clothing though some have chosen to wear the traditional robes. The film is an amazing look into the cultural differences of Asia and Europe. Especially with Dario Maianelli’s melancholic, orchestral film score that really sets the town for the film’s sadness and tragedy along with a wonderful film soundtrack of Islamic music from traditional to modern. From the viewpoint of an outsider like Winterbottom, we begin to see that while the look and sounds of Islam may be different from our own world but in truth, it’s clearly not lost in translation since we all enjoy similar ideals and freedoms.

The 2004 DVD release from Sundance in comparison to its recent series is probably the most superior. Notably because of Michael Winterbottom’s involvement by making an introduction on why he wanted to do the film and how he wanted to present the Islamic world to a wide audience. Along with its widescreen format along with English subtitles, the features include production notes and biographies when you put on your DVD-rom drive. The special features also include two different trailers for “In This World”, one American and another is British with different scenes and introductions. From Sundance comes highlights from its film series of movies like “The Other Side of the Bed”, “Searching for Paradise”, “The Slaughter Rule”, and many more movies.

The best features is a Behind-the-scenes look of the making of the film with commentary from Winterbottom and screenwriter Tony Grisoni where they talked about the approach of the film and their relationship with the actors which turned out to be very playful. What is really surprising was given to the strict rule of the Islam nations; they actually allowed Winterbottom to film the movie since he had permission slips, papers, and such along with his crew and actors. Also shown in contrast with the film’s dark tone is a lot of football matches between the crew and actor and townspeople.

“In This World” is a must-see masterpiece for anyone wanting to learn about the world of Islam and the recent turmoil it was forced to endure in the hands of terrorism and U.S. foreign policy. Credit really should go to Michael Winterbottom for handling a film like this, especially for him being an outsider. With the upcoming 2003 sci-fi film “Code 46" with Samantha Morton and Oscar-winner Tim Robbins set for a late summer release in 2004. “In This World” proved that there is no issue or world Winterbottom will explore. “In This World” is indeed a world film in the purest form that allows the audience to explore and feel about the culture of Islam and the journey of the two young Afghan men in their desire for freedom.

Michael Winterbottom Reviews:

I Want You (1998):

http://www.epinions.com/content_392856309380

24 Hour Party People (2002):

http://www.epinions.com/content_74688597636

Code 46 (2003):

http://www.epinions.com/content_394013675140

A Mighty Heart (2007):

http://www.epinions.com/content_381302509188


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age