The comic elements are combined with pointed observations about the human condition, not just the plight of these wanderers, and some emotionally searing personal moments. With little choice, the musician accepts, a perfect metaphor for his whole situation.įilled with dry humor, LIMBO does not preach about immigrants but merely puts a human face on them by putting us in their shoes, particularly the young musician, as they wait in limbo for a distant government’s decision that will determine their fate. In one telling scene, Omar stands on a desolate roadside, stoically listening as a group of Scottish teens berate and mock him for being an immigrant – but then offer him a ride. Theater of the absurd is very present here, while the storytelling makes uses that to help make its points.
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You can hear the humor potential in all that, and writer/director Ben Sharrock takes full advantage of that, but also uses the characters’ uniqueness to deepen them. The instructors’ accents, a weird mix of their original ones and Scottish burrs, adds another bit of comic weirdness. The classes are run by a pair of former immigrants, Helga (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Boris (Kenneth Collard), who act out scenarios that are supposed to represent potential cultural misunderstandings, skits whose oddness leave the refugees staring in open-jawed disbelief. While they wait, the men spend their days attending comically-bizarre classes that are supposed to acclimate them to a new culture. Actually, the musician has a special skill – he is a talented musician from a family of famous musicians – but he plays the oud, a stringed instrument much beloved in Syria, although here, no one has even heard of it. One of the group opines that they were sent to this remote location because they are all the least desirable applicants – single men without families or special skills. He joins a group that includes Farhad (Vikash Bhai), an Afghan refugee who is a member of a religious minority as well as a Freddie Mercury fan, and a pair of young men from Africa, Abedi (Kwabena Ansah) and Wasef (Ola Orebiyi), one of whom aspires to be a soccer star. The story focuses mainly on the young Syrian musician, Omar (Amir El-Masry), who is both a comic and pitiable figure with his hand in a cast but clutching the case with his musical instrument as he wanders this windswept island. The British government has sent this group of refugees to a distant, sparsely-populated, fictional Scottish island to await their fate. This smart, well-crafted film, both funny and touching, was a BAFTA nominee and a winner at the British Independent Film Awards and the Cairo International Film Festival. LIMBO features excellent direction, a tightly-crafted script, fine performances and stunning photography of the harsh, windswept island landscape. LIMBO paints a dryly comic, often absurdist tale of life in limbo, but it also takes us to unexpected places, just as their journey took to them to this unlikely spot. Courtesy of Colin Tennant / Focus FeaturesĪ young Syrian musician and a motley collection of other refugees wait on a remote Scottish island while the British government decides their asylum claims, in writer/director Ben Sharrock’s wry funny, poignant LIMBO. Vikash Bhai (left) stars as “Farhad” and Amir El-Masry (right) stars as “Omar” in director Ben Sharrock’s LIMBO, a Focus Features release.
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