Galway Film Society

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Bilal a 17-year-old Kurd from Iraq, phones London to tell his girlfriend Mina that he’ll soon be crossing the Channel to join her. He has already made an arduous three-month journey to France, and believes that the final leg will be easy. But after an unsuccessful crossing as a stowaway on a lorry, Bilal conceives the desperate notion that perhaps he can swim to his goal. Enter swimming instructor Simon in the throes of a divorce from teacher Marion who agrees to give Bilal swimming lessons, then becomes increasingly involved with, and protective of, the boy - initially, it appears, in the hope of impressing Marion, but eventually for more complex emotional reasons. The film is ultimately more Simon’s story than Bilal’s. Has he suddenly woken up to his humanitarian tendencies, is he just out to win back Marion, or is he a middle-aged man in the process of meltdown? Vincent Lindon’s gruff, hangdog persona of a hard-bitten type guy with a soft, needy core. confirms him as French cinema’s current incumbent of the Jean Gabin niche of bullish-but-sensitive blue-collar roles. The action takes place against a topical background, with the film offering a quietly impassioned critique of the French government’s harsh policies towards illegal immigrants and French xenophobia in general.

Winner - Europa Cinemas Label, Berlin International Film Festival 2009