Sadly Over-hyped

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Some reviewers, though generally content with much of the film, have been a bit too harsh in judging the climax.For instance, this comment: //In the last shot Yalini runs her ring-less left hand through his hair affectionately. The whole scene seems fake.//My 2 cents about the conclusion part: (1) Hindus - both men and women - don't wear wedding rings. There are certain other visual differentiators, mainly for women (a silver ring worn on fingers next to toe on both legs in both North and South India, a rich vermillion on forehead in North India) but gradually declining in urbanised environments. Equally, urban Indians end up aping some Western habits such as celebrating Valentine's Day with card/gifts, blowing birthday candles and indeed, using rings - but, it's not a norm yet. It's perfectly fine to show them without rings and make one conclude they're happily married without any of them wearing ring.(2) Yalini, the leading lady, informs at least a couple of times her relatives being settled in England. While she lacks the exit velocity from Sri Lanka (wherefrom none of her England relatives could help her), once she reaches that housing estate, she does realise she's bound to the fledgling household more as a moral responsibility (to the girl and the man who made it happen) than as her preferred choice. Thus, it's quite natural for the last scene of the movie showing her will having prevailed - to make another fresh start, having just escaped another strife-prone zone, albeit of a different kind.I thought Audiard had done the last shot brilliant - instead of letting sign boards announce one's in England (or a tiring sight of flight landing Heathrow!), he just shows a car(well,a taxi) that drives on 'wrong' side of the road! Viewers are quickly forced to connect the dots - of Yalini's stated preference for England and indeed her attempted escape once - and conclude they're in England.

"Men and women are immigrants in each other's worlds." Yakov SmirnoffWhile the media is awash with stories of displaced persons, especially in Europe and Asia, the engrossing film, Dheepan, depicts the struggles of a small "family" from Sri Lanka that could as easily stand for emigrants anywhere. The titular hero (Jesuthasan Antonythasan) is a former Tamil Tiger trying to leave his violent past by emigrating first to France, then to England.The fact that the 1983-2009 Sri Lankan Civil War is closing, with Tamil losing, helps to propel the story and give credence to his flight. The story is fascinating as Deephan joins with a woman and a young girl, both previously unknown to him, to leave the country seeming to be a family. Just watching the three maneuver themselves out of India to a Parisian suburb is drama enough, but writer-director Jacques Audiard carefully shows how the new family gradually becomes a functioning, loving trio.However, it's not at all easy as Dheepan's new job is as caretaker for a housing complex that has a drug operation in one part of it. Although Dheepan tries to stay out of the way, the old Tiger surfaces, and he must fight for his independence as well as the safety and trust of his "wife," Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan).That fight for family love and survival becomes just as compelling as the struggle of the Tamil Tigers for independence in Northern Sri Lanka. What makes this Cannes Palme d'Or winner so emotionally magnetizing is the quiet way the characters grab hold of your affection, in a sense inching their way into your heart because of the sincerity of their purpose and the charisma of the actors.Besides the microcosmic attachment to a family in progress, the story, again quietly, references ethnic challenges worldwide as Yalini dons a headscarf to fit into the predominantly Muslim population, an artifice similar to her faking being wife to Deephan and mother to Illavaal (Claudine Vinasithamby). Yet there is nothing deceptive about the power of this story to make universal the need to find a home, and the concomitant importance of a nurturing love.

"In my hometown, people smile even when they fall on the ground. But here, if you laugh too much, others tend to regard you as fool, or that you are laughing at somebody." As the female protagonist, who is an illegal immigrant, said in this film, France seems to give the out-comers an impression of being 'othered' and put these people into kind of oppressed mental situation. Their expectation for France becomes an illusion, particularly when they're shrouded with special background which cannot be put into words for being sensational. In this case, Dheepan, used to be an 'terrorist' (to some extent), and all three members of his new 'family' entered the country illegally. As a result, they hide and drag out an ignoble existence, while still hold the bond between themselves as immigrants and their cultural identity as Indians. By integrating these meanings with cinematic narration (e.g. through character design), this film is equipped with much in-depth value and becomes a good material to talk about. Different from some other films made by Audiard, photographic properties in this one apparently look more delicate. If you compare Dheepan with The Beat That My Heart Skipped, such differences become obvious. I mean, the color tone, the props, settings within camera frames and even compositions and cuttings are quite carefully designed. This makes Dheepan being unified throughout the development of its story, holding and accumulating the power of expression just for the final 'explosion'. Fortunately, Audiard has the outstanding ability to make this accumulation worth, because you can tell from his style (i.e. always utilizing the power of silence, slow motion, and symbolizing) that he can manage expressions of 'stroooong' moments. Like him!

Greetings again from the darkness. Wars exist in many different forms. Some are over contested international boundaries, others are religious conflicts, while others are more personal and intimate. The stories of many refugees could be described as fleeing one type of war only to end up fighting a different kind. Such is the story of Dheepan.Jacques Audiard is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. A Prophet (2009) and Rust and Bone (2012) are both compelling films, and though his latest may not be quite at that level, it's still full of intensity and personal drama. Mr. Audiard co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Bidegain and Noe Dibre, and some of it is based on the remarkable real life story of lead actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan.Dheepan is a Tamli soldier who is so desperate to flee Sri Lanka that he teams with a woman and young girl he doesn't know to form what looks like a real family. By using passports of people killed during the war, the pre-fab family of three is issued visas to live in France. Dheepan gets a job as the caretaker for an apartment complex riddled with crime, violence and drugs – and learns to keep his mouth shut and eyes open.It's fascinating to watch these three people navigate their new life as they struggle with the language and a new culture. There are flashes of real family problems, but also the awkwardness of three whose only true bond is their escape from their previous life. Living in such close proximity means their true colors are bound to shine through no matter how much effort goes into the family façade.Jesuthasan Antonythasan (Dheepan) and Kalieaswari Srinivasan (as Yalini his wife) are both excellent and powerful in their roles despite being so inexperienced as actors. Their exchanges are believable, as is their disparate approach to the future. Ms. Srinivasan is especially strong in her scenes with local thug Brahim, played by Vincent Rottiers. The two have such an unusual connection … alternating between warm and frightening.Some have found fault with the final action sequence, but it's such a fitting turn of events given Dheepan's past … plus the camera work is outstanding. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and it's another notch in the belt of filmmaker Jacques Audiard. It's also a reminder that we can never really escape the past.