Welcome

Now there's an ironic title if ever there was one. The illegal immigrants arriving in Calais get no welcome from the French and are even less welcome in their ultimate destination: England. No surprise there. However unlike the British films In This World and Ghosts, the attention isn't solely on the plight of the immigrants themselves. The opening introduces us to Bilal and his failed first attempt to cross the Channel in a truck (the plastic bag he has to keep over his head to ward off carbon monoxide fumes reminds him of his treatment at the hand of the Turkish police after he crossed from Iraq) but the focus switches to his relationship with swimming instructor - and former champion swimmer -Simon. His reasons for helping Bilal are opaque: is it to impress his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and activist herself? to give himself some purpose now that he's on his own? or does the childless Simon start to view Bilal as a surrogate son? It could be any or all or something else entirely. The determination of Bilal to reach his girlfriend by any means necessary also appeals to this lovelorn man. Deep down he realizes that Bilal's plans are hopelessly impractical - to become a professional footballer, to reach England by swimming the Channel - but he finds himself supporting the teenager as much as discouraging him. Needless to say, this doesn't get wholehearted approval from anyone because what is most surprising about the story is the rampant surveillance and persecution of anyone who remotely helps the illegals (readers of the Daily Mail might like to know that the French don't just escort them onto the nearest lorry) Townsfolk inform on anyone they suspect giving aid, the charity that runs a soup kitchen is harrassed, activists are arrested. It feels a million miles away from a democratic, civilized society - and of course it doesn't deter the immigarnts one iota.