The West Bend Current

By Noah Mintie, Current Staff

While usually intended to “spread the word,” depictions of people’s suffering in a certain real-world scenario can sometimes be damaging.

If improperly conveyed or oversimplified, these struggling people, who are often at their worst, are misrepresented. In other scenarios, these films can trivialize or even glorify the suffering, making it into a tasteless spectacle that insults those wrapped up in the issue. Finally, the film could accurately convey the issue, but entirely fail to say something insightful about the work as a whole. Getting a film to avoid these pitfalls can be like walking over a minefield. You do your best, but there is still an element of chance and the meddling of outside forces.

It pleases me to say that Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” a story where a Syrian family and an Afghani teacher are treated like tennis balls between two countries, manages to depict the ongoing border crisis in Poland while avoiding the exploitative tendencies that movies like this so easily seem to fall into. The film explores the viewpoints of the asylum-seekers themselves, a border patrol agent, and activists who do what they can to help, which gives the film a sort of ethos. It feels as though it has covered almost all of the bases, while feeling relevant and even fair.

On that note, it is worth mentioning that the film has clearly taken a stance on real-world politics, so there is, of course, a necessary bias in the way that it presents the situation. This film is very straightforward, but it does not just demonize the Polish government. “Green Border” has an even greater statement to make: This situation is not irreparable. In its later stages, the film presents several scenes which convey a tone of hope. This new tone does not devalue any of the previously-shown suffering, but rather, it compliments it. The film takes in a new theme: If the people in power wield forgiveness rather than callous indifference, then lives are saved. This is a very simple theme, but for such a transparent and straightforward film, it works. It robs the piece of no exigence, yet it creates a little bit of comfort.

This comfort can translate to motivation, which drives actual change, but it also creates a thematically-enriching experience that creates a good movie in and of itself. This balance of struggle and hope makes “Green Border” more than a fancy PSA to the world. Rather, it is a cinematic experience that fires on all cylinders to create a gripping, emotional tale that forms a lesson which is applicable worldwide. 

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Four theaters, one city and hundreds of films: the true ingredients needed to make magic. The Milwaukee Film Festival is a beloved local event and the 2024 edition wrapped April 25. I saw six fantastic movies this year. Each was stylistically, tonally and visually different from the last, so I will offer a focused analysis of each film’s unique strengths in a series of reviews.

(Image courtesy of Milwaukee Film.)