Europa ist weit

Petru, a ten-year-old Romanian boy, lives with his veterinarian father, Mihai, and pianist mother in the picturesque Carpathian Mountains in Romania. He is a happy kid, playing with his dog Ursu and water buffalo Florica. Unfortunately political storms are brewing that will affect them all. Mihai falsely gets accused of killing farmers' sheep, and realizes that it is just the excuse the Ceaucescu regime would be waiting for to have him arrested. The family decides to flee to Germany where Mihai has contacts at universities. The family survives many ordeals on their hazardous trip on foot, in a little rowboat and in the back of a people smuggler's truck. They reach Austria, but that is not the end of their ordeal...

There are quite a few films dealing with the modern-day plight of refugees. Just think of the excellent, unsettling 'Clandestins' ('Stowaways'). Unfortunately 'Európa messze van' ('Europa ist Weit') is not in the same class; it is somewhat uneven; scenes of riveting suspense are broken by the more than occasional lapse into melodrama. Some of the scenes are also a tad to sentimental to my taste. On a more positive note, I found the acting by the protagonist, Petru (Levente Tamási) quite realistic. The copy of the film I watched was dubbed into German. It would be great if it could be provided with English subtitles to make it accessible to more viewers. Although not a great film, it would be good if more people could watch it - even if it is only to get insight into what it means to be a refugee. This film is even more relevant today with the large number of desperate people trying to get to Europe. 6/10.