![]() ![]() If you've had a sibling of a similar age, you'll know that that relationship forms the core of your whole childhood experience. This, with its grinding machinery, repetitive automated routines and treadmill conveyor belts, represents fear of being trapped into the perceived mundanity of adult working life.Īnd central to all of this is The Boy's search for his sister. It's a sinister, dirty, sleazy place, and the grotty hotel, with its sordid sexual connotations, is central to this whole metaphor.Īnd finally he reaches the roaring, screeching industrial area. Suddenly the world of grown-ups isn't the perfect place he believed it was. Away from the safety of his childhood, he encounters an aggressive wider peer group and established hierarchy, and has to survive by his wits and evasive skills against their organized, group-led violence.įollowing this is his first experience of the wider adult world at large, typified by the broken down hotel. This section, to me, carried a major Lord of the Flies feel, evoking the idea that this was The Boy's journey to high school. SYNOPSIS: For a group of refugees stuck on a Scottish island awaiting asylum, life has turned into a series of episodic encounters where they each find varying degrees of friendship and alienation.The next distinct environment occurs when The Boy moves underground and begins to encounter Limbo's more sentient inhabitants, the humanoid, weapon-using Lost Boy-style characters. Sharrock has marked himself as a very exciting talent.ĬAST: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Ola Orebiyi, Kwabena Ansah Despite moving the audience to some complex places, the film never loses its smile, even as it is being battered by the Scottish wind. Lying somewhere between Local Hero and Elia Suleiman, Limbo is an endearing, intelligent and subtly uplifting piece of filmmaking. All of which works to create a stunningly empathetic experience-not only in its depiction of Omar’s impossible situation but also the way that, as seen through Omar’s eyes, Sharrock transforms his homeland into an alien landscape. Filmed in a 4:3 ratio, the camera boxes everything in, allowing the landscape to stretch off into the distance while Omar and the rest have to squeeze together to fit in the frame. The island’s landscape feels both expansive and claustrophobic. It finds humour in the locals who’ll insult Omar then offer him a lift, concerned he’d get caught in the rain. This uncertain state is reflected in every element of the film. For Omar and his fellow refugees, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return to, their past and their future are rapidly losing all meaning. The instrument is Omar’s only tie to his native Syria-rarely seen without it, it is virtually a part of him, something which is clearly as much a burden as it is a joy. With nothing to do, Omar spends his days walking back and forth across the island lugging his heavy Oud with him. Presented in an offbeat tone that deceptively covers the depth of its story, Limbo proves to be a profoundly moving piece of cinema. In this film about a group of displaced refugees awaiting asylum on an anonymous Hebridean island, he manages to deliver humour, heartbreak and pathos in equal measure. Writer-director Ben Sharrock has made something very special with Limbo. This film was previously reviewed in October 2020 as part of our London Film Festival coverage. ![]()
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