No. 45 (2021) EXILE. June 10th.

 

Film No. 45 (2021)  June 10th.  11:00 AM.  Cinema 2  LUNA SX Fremantle.

"They make fun of my name. I am being embarrassed." (Xhafer expresses, to an upline manager, his hurt about how he believes he is being treated in his workplace).

Writer/director Visar Morina's first feature FATHER, was the dark story of a father and his ten year old son eking out an existence on the streets of Kosovo. It was meant to make audiences uncomfortable, and it did. He has a way of showing a real world in raw terms on screen. EXILE is his next step into making audiences uncomfortable. He does a brilliant job.

The theme of this slow-burn drama revolves around the repercussions of the effects of acute paranoia. And when the final curtain is lowered, we are left to ponder much.    

We operate in what seems like the back pocket of Xhafer (Misel Maticevic), a chemical engineer working as a middle manager in a Berlin based company. He's Albanian married to Nora (Sandra Huller), a German national. We assume they have decided to make Berlin the hub for their budding family life. Xhafer is an outsider. This warm, sticky summer brings Xhafer's paranoia to a head and although there is no such thing as a happy ending in EXILE you'll walk away thinking about this film.  

Morina's direction cleverly keeps us on edge. Strained and stretched violin strings punctuate the soundtrack. They are unnerving but never over played. He implores his audience to keep paying attention. The reason? Well we are always looking over Xhafer's shoulder and seeing the seemingly unjust way he is being treated in his workplace. But while our subject never wavers, we begin to see cracks in his singlemindedness. We know he is paranoid, but does he need help to view his situation with a new lens?

So while the workplace is where Xhafer's toxic thought patterns begin, it expands to home and his feelings for Nora will be tested. But because we live in Xhafer's pocket we get to see things we shouldn't. One particular secret is known by few on screen but because we know, it is a key to our changing opinions. I hope this review gives the reader an awkward enough feel to want to see EXILE. It's a must see for those who love film which challenges ones psyche. A directors masterclass in the depiction of the unnerving. 10GUMS.