11/28/2023 0 Comments Cast of limbo 2015![]() ![]() He carries the case wherever he goes it’s his only connection to the motherland outside the emotionally draining phone calls he makes to his family from a solitary payphone in the middle of a highway. Omar has arrived to this island carrying his grandfather’s oud inside a case, his dreams of pursuing a musical career in England put on hold not only by the long wait but by a huge cast on his arm. Courtesy of Colin Tennant / Focus Features Vikash Bhai (left) stars as “Farhad” and Amir El-Masry (right) stars as “Omar” in director Ben Sharrock’s LIMBO, a Focus Features release.Ĭr.Omar (British-Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry) is one of these students, a young Syrian refugee who has left his family behind in Turkey after they left Syria and who won’t speak to his brother Nabil after he went back to fight with the rebel forces. In another session later on in the film, they will be asked how to use the phrase “I used to” in a sentence the refugees’ responses pack a wallop, turning upside down the film’s deadpan humor. On this occasion, they are being taught how to properly behave with women at a dance. “Limbo” opens in the middle of the first of a series of cultural awareness classes taught by two droll government officials -Helga (Sidse Babbett-Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard)- to a group of male refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa who have been relocated to an isolated, stark and beautiful Scottish island to wait for a decision on their request for asylum. ![]() In other words, we here have a filmmaker who, with only two films, has developed a distinctive style and point-of-view and one we all film lovers should keep an eye on. Based on what I’ve read about that feature debut, “Limbo” shares with “Pikadero” the same deadpan sense of humor, a fine eye and ear for the absurd, and a love for open spaces, long static shots and symmetrical framing and both owe a debt to the works Aki Kaurismaki and Jim Jarmusch. His first, “Pikadero” (2015), the story of a Basque couple’s desperate attempts to find a place where they can be alone (and which Sharrock shot entirely in Basque), only played the Festival circuit and is now available on Amazon Prime. Brilliantly done!! Thank you so much to all involved for this experience.Audiences who come across “Limbo,” Ben Sharrock’s quirky, heartbreaking and confident fish out of water tale about a Syrian refugee in the middle of nowhere, might be surprised to know that this is only the Scottish filmmaker’s second feature. This is a movie for 'thinking' people, who are able to appreciate the nuanced and pitch-perfect delivery of a sadly familiar theme in Australia's dark history following white colonisation. ![]() The aerial photography shows the moon-like landscape of endless holes dug for opal mining, and the long straight roads seem to stretch on forever. Also, there's no 'sensationalism' like violence and annoying high speed chases to detract from the immersive experience. The cinematography is amazing too! While at first I didn't 'get' the black and white (I wanted the rich red earth and blue sky of the outback), I soon realised that this monochrome actually highlighted the superb subtlety of the characters and acting. But once it started, I couldn't tear my eyes away from it!! The acting is superb, especially the Indigenous cast! Plus Simon Baker is SO good in this one, very 'understated' in the lead role as the flawed detective. I sat spellbound watching this hauntingly beautiful film!! I didn't know what to expect when deciding to watch it, and hadn't read any reviews. ![]()
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