From this year's Berlinale, one of the films that lingers in my mind is becoming conflated with a 2007 offering from the same country, Sweden. It's hardly a country that comes to mind when I think of immigrants, which just goes to show how quickly all the old patterns are changing. Last year's film was När Mörkret Faller (When Darkness Falls). It primarily starred immigrants and consisted of 3 vignettes, the first of which blew me away. It was a very psychologically complex portrayal about how a family of Turkish immigrants treat the lost "honor" of an independent-minded daughter.
Similarly, this year's offering, Leo, was also concerned with violence and its effects on victims' loved ones. The film was violent and disturbing, but I always distinguish between gratuitous violence (which is worthless) and that which teaches us something. This film, for me, definitely fell in the latter category, as Fares asks questions about young men struggling to find appropriate responses to violence, and at the same time define their manhood. In listening to the post-screening Q & A with Fares and co-star Salehi, I caught only a few glimpses of maturity and insight. But the main character was played by professional actor Terfelt and the process of filming clearly relied on a synergy between the three that added up to something greater than its individual parts. All three may merit watching in the future, to see if further talent materializes.
