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| Ivan and Tania |
After seeing two five-star films within a week's time, it would have been asking too much for a third. Still, I'd give "Illegal" a solid 3 to 4 stars.
It's a serious subject, obviously, illustrating the plight of a single mother, Tania, a Russian national who's living illegally in Belgium with her teenage son Ivan when she is arrested on his birthday. Tania (played by Anne Coesens) is taken to a detention center, where her initial terror at being separated from Ivan eventually recedes enough for her to befriend fellow detainees in the midst of inhumane treatment.
Director Olivier Masset-Depasse could have made this a film about the politics of immigration but instead he keeps the story focused on Tania and her desperate efforts to avoid deportation. She stonewalls authorities about her real identity only to later complicate her situation by giving the name of a friend -- a tactic that suddenly has her facing deportation to Poland.
Tania makes for a sympathetic character if you happen to believe in liberal immigration policies. If you don't, well, I can imagine you'd say she gets what she deserves.
One thing that stood out to me is that Tania is often presented to us in near-darkness, an effective metaphor for someone living in the shadows of society.
The film was Belgium's nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. It didn't make the final five and I imagine that's a fair assessment. It was good but not great, a film that strives to be passionate but is also predictable in some ways.
Photograph: www.indiewire.com
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