No. 57 (2021) ANY DAY NOW (ENSILUMI) Palace Scandinavian Film Festival 2021 July 17th.

 

Film No. 57 (2021)  July 17th.  11:00 AM  Cinema 5   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"Here's the secret: you don't need to say anything. Just look into their eyes and smile." (Ramin listens intently to his father's response to his question, "How do I talk to a girl?).

This heartfelt drama from Finland, told through the eyes of Iranian born director Hany Ramezan, (LISTEN) gives the impression that it is a very personal tale. And while his handling of some of the story is clunky, he shows nothing but care when it comes to the tenderness we are meant to feel for this family, the Mehdipours.

We can assume Ramezan is basing his story on first hand experience. He fled Iran, going with his family to Finland, as a teen in 1979. So in a similar vein to the way Lee Isaac Chung handled MINARI, Ramezan creates a world in a new country through his innocent eyes. Thirteen year old Ramin leads us gently through a few months of his life in the arms of his family and new friends, but in the hands of Finnish authorities (state controlled temporary housing). 

A coming of age drama is how ENSILUMI is being promoted since debuting at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival. And it's true but not entirely. It's moments around family, their complete love for each other and the respect their newly adopted community has for them, that makes ENSILUMI memorable. The opening scene where mother, Mahtab (Shabnam Ghorbani) caringly wakes husband Bahman (Shahab Hosseini) and then their children with a unique and quiet tenderness is impactful. Then the final scene repeats the dose, circumstances have changed, but her care for family has not wavered.  

Ramin and his family live with the anxiety of waiting to be approved as citizens in their new country. You'd hardly know it. They conduct themselves with such decorum and playfulness, hoping that ANY DAY NOW they will be accepted; but will they? This is a thought provoking tender film.  10GUMS.