Tuesday, June 9, 2020
An Icelandic film on the life of a woman whose job it is to flag travelers using stolen or fake passports
The
low-key Icelandic feature And Breathe Normally (2018), directed by Isold Uggadóttir, gives us a look at the effect
of tightened border security has on many people – inside and outside of the
system – and also shows the inadequacies of the systems of social and economic
support, for citizens and deportees alike, even in a country as seemingly
egalitarian and prosperous as Iceland. The story line, in brief, follows a
young single mom on the verge of bankruptcy who’s a candidate for a job
checking passports and documents of travelers who stop in Iceland en route to
America and other destinations of supposed freedom. A handful are traveling on
fake or stolen dox, and it is her job to flag these cases and send the woeful
travler off to holding cells, imprisonment, and most likely deportation.
Through a series of somewhat absurd coincidences, the woman’s life becomes
entwined with the life of an African woman whose fake passport she flagged;
over the course of their sometimes strained friendship, both learn abou the lives
of others, and in the end there’s a lovely moment of salvation. It’s a
small-scale film, sad at times, and it successfully fulfills its modest,
low-budget ambitions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.