Green Border

I won't deny that I was prompted to watch the film right after the Polish premiere by how extremists in the government try to use it to their advantage by throwing around statements that are subject to Godwin's law in normal discourse, which at the same time obscures the message and power of the picture. The second reason was my interest in the subject matter covered - for the past two years I have been hearing about the events that have been fictionalized in this powerful and emotionally stirring film. The situation in Ukraine, Belarus, the constant information war and disinformation on the part of Belarus and Russia, the visa scandal in which the government is involved, the dying refugees in the border area between Poland and Belarus.

The visual layer of the film is flawless. The story is told in an intriguing, engaging way, and there are several memorable moments, including some dialogues that, curiously enough, show the surprising self-irony of the middle class supporting the neoliberal opposition. The script and acting were not always flawless, although this did not detract too much from the overall reception of the film, as the film defends itself primarily through its imagery. It is truly unforgettable. I recommend it from the bottom of my heart.

Movies like "Green Border" are tricky. If you're watching it in the first place, you likely already have some awareness of and empathy for the plight of refugees and migrants who are being demonized around the world. If you need to be convinced that they are deserving of empathy, you're probably not ever going to watch this movie. So the onslaught of suffering we are subjected to feels like punishment, like we're being lectured on something we already believe.

I thought I might bail on this movie at about the 30-minute mark. That first half hour is misery porn about a Syrian family trying to make its way across the Belarus/Poland border and the inhumanity they face. I felt for them, but didn't want to watch a movie that was just going to throw in my face misery that I already feel bad about. But veteran director Agnieska Holland had something more varied in mind for this film, and the perspective switches multiple times to show events from the perspective of a Polish border guard, a group of activists trying to help the refugees, and a psychotherapist who turns her outrage into action and joins the cause.

"Green Border" is a well made movie, and it's pretty engrossing. But there's something a little too narratively slick about it. I've seen documentaries about the refugee crisis, and though it tries, this movie doesn't capture the visceral, life or death desperation of those films. Maybe it's not fair to ask it to, but it's hard to feel completely satisfied by this movie's fictional version of what's happening in the world when the real thing is being documented and made available. If this had been my first exposure to the refugee crisis, I might have found it to be more searing than I did. And there's something a little naive about it too. It's very simple in its ideology. All of the refugees and anyone on their side is good, anyone working against the refugees is bad, and there's no nuance or attempt to address the complicated social impact of large masses of people entering countries without the resources to support them. In this movie's version, if we all just open our borders and welcome whoever wants to come in, we'll all live together in a utopian society and won't that be wonderful. But that's not the way the world works. I'm one of the first to wish it did, but I'm more realistic than that. I wish this movie had been more realistic about it too.

But all that aside, it is still a very effective movie, and I found myself more enraged than depressed by it. I'm afraid I might be one of the ineffectual liberals criticized in the movie, people who feel bad about what's happening but don't actually do anything about it. To be fair to myself, I'm not sure exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing, but still, movies like this make me want to just go out in the world and help someone, anyone, so I guess this film serves a valuable purpose in that regard.

Grade: A.

"Green border" shows immigration from a different perspective than is slowly becoming mainstream in Europe, being it Poland (the land in which the film is situated), Holland (in which the anti-immagration party PVV won the election of november 2023) or England (that want to send refugees to Rwanda).

The situation on the Eastern border of Poland is different in this respect that the Belarus of Lukashenko uses refugees as a weapon against the European Union (EU). They lure refugees to Belarus with the promise that the transit to the EU (i.e. Poland) is without any difficulty, which of course is not the case.

"Green border" is a documentary like film that shows the story from different perspectives. These perspectives are those of a Syrian family, Polish border guards and Polish activists.

The episodes about the Syrian family and the border guards are heavy stuf and the episode about the Polish activists is desperately needed to bring back some confidence in humanity.

The conservative Polish government was very angry about the movie and even called director Agnieszka Holland a Nazi. This is of course ridiculous. The anger was most probably directed against the episode about the Polish border guards, but even these episode is not totally negative as its shows that the border guard these episode is about has increasing psychological difficulties with the job he is doing (pushing back refugees to Belarus). The episode is indeed very critical about his superior, telling the border guards that the refugees are not human beings but bullets fired by Lukashenko.

One perspective that is missing is the Belarussian one. One can criticize the harsh behaviour of the Polish border guards but there can be no doubt abourt the fact that Belarus started using the refugees as pawns in a cynical political power struggle.

Also from Western Europe we have to be carefull with too much criticism. The push backs on land by the Polish border guards are illegal, but what about the push backs on sea by Frontex? Moreover, we have easy talk, not bordering on a cynical regime like that of Lukashenko.

Images say more than 1000 words and in this respect the film is in my opinion a must see for those who want to understand more about the immagration crisis. In the Netherlands I had the feeling that the film was in roulation very short. I had to hurry to visit the last performance and was accompanied by only one fellow visitor.

To conclude one point of critic. In the epilogue the film shows how welcome Ukrainian refugees were when in february 2022 their country was invaded by Russia, strongly suggesting that there is a racist element in which refugeest are being supported and which not. I would like to qualify this suggestion. In the first place the aggressor in the Ukranian war is also a threat to Poland, unlike the aggressors in the other conflicts generating refugees (such as Assad in Syria). In the second place has the loyalty with Ukraine cooled down considerably (not in words but in deeds) after two years of war.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland's impassioned examination of the European refugee crisis from her nation's perspective. Holland's film, which she also co-wrote, is a sprawling work which begins by following a family of Syrians who are trying to the EU through Russian dominated Belarus. From there, the movie weaves it way to the Border Guards and, eventually, ia small band of mostly female Aid workers who give medical and legal assistance to the immigrants.

The structure is a bit daunting even though there are loose connections binding it all together. Cinematographer Tomasz Naumiuk shoots in an austere Black and White with Frédéric Vercheval's brooding score as accompaniment. The large cast is quite good with Maja Ostarszewska a standout as the, perhaps a bit naive Julia, one of the Polish volunteers. Behi Djanati Atai is memorable as a defiant Afghan woman who crosses the border with the Syrians. What knits it together is Holland's vision, which becomes clearer and clearer as the various strands are brought together - while simulataneously being torn assunder.

Holland never flinches from the painful and graphic details of the refugees' plight. They are literal political footballs booted from one side of the border to the other. There are times when the structure doesn't completely work and the filmmaker does dwell a bit on some seemingly extraneous details, but, there is no questioning Holland's fervor - much of it directed at Poland's leadership. It's been a highly controversial film within the nation and its government, and throughout much of Europe.

Unsurprisingly, it was NOT Poland's official submission to this past year's Academy Awards.

At 75, Holland (an Oscar nominee for EUROPA EUROPA) has made a daring - some would say angry - film. A stunning work of art that demands to be seen.

Even before the premiere of this movie, there was a lot of drama going on already. Everyone was reviewing it even though all they saw was a tiny bit of trailer. Sometimes, not even that. Even polish government started to make their own propaganda to make people believe it was anti-polish movie and all of that just so they could gain more voters before election that will happen soon. In some cities, it's even banned to be played in cinemas. That's how current government's world works and will work if they win again. No free speech, full censorship of anything that may be offensive towards government and many many more. But it's not about it.

Movie itself is build on politics, so it's hard to not talk about them. Though, I don't think that Holland wanted to attack the army itself, as some of the people think she did, but rather the corruption and how government overused their power. How they forced people to act like there was no human rights, like those people on the other side of the fence were nothing. This movie isn't about letting illegal migrants into the country, but about respect and right treating. We're all humans after all, but what was happening on the border was really wrong.

It's not a documentary, but a lot of things that happened in the movie had place in real life. There was a lot of videos, photos and even articles saying about those horrible things happening. And all of it just because of the government, who wants to make their own people scare and be afraid of other nationalities. Movie was also about our own feelings, how we see the world that surrounds us. It's always hard to say about things, that are uncomfortable, but true. But they have to be said and we can't just let those high positioned people get away with it without any consequences. That's not how this world should work.

I was following the news back then and I'm really glad that such movie was made and is showing somehow the reality of what was happening on the border. But the truth is, what media were allowed to show us and what is the real truth of how it really looked like, is two different things and for people, who are open-minded those two things should matter to draw your own conclusions and based on that make your own opinion.