'Welcome' a real French classic
Friday, November 06, 2009 - 08:45 PM
Director: Phillipe Lioret
Cast: Vincent Lendon, Audrey Dana, Firat Ayverdi
Cert: 15
From France comes as perfect a film as you could wish for, a film full of humanity, compassion, hope and heartache.
Teenage Kurd (Ayverdi) makes his way to France where he plans to try to reach England to be with his sweetheart in London. But stuck in a Calais refugee camp with other hopeless hopefuls isn’t easy.
He thinks that he might succeed by swimming the Channel, only he can’t swim. Help comes from a troubled middle-aged Simon (Lendon) who teaches him … knowing that the effort is fruitless.
We have here an engaging, heartwarming, but ultimately sad story of friendship and dreams and it’s all quite wonderful, with excellent performances all round.
Star Rating: 5/5
