Bekas (2012)

The protagonists of Karzan Kader's Bekas are two brothers, Kurdish orphans, who try to survive in a war-stricken country. The story is set in the 90's in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan. The kids head out on a journey in which they try to cross the boarder. They run into shrewd smugglers and shady businessmen - the world of the grown-ups is a world of war and cruel deals. The brothers often fight but when they are torn from each other they long for one another. Even though the film engages with tough living situation and manages to make the viewer care about the characters, I get the feeling that the attempt to evoke "the children's perspective" is imprisoned within a very traditional cinematic way of presenting this perspective. The director seems to be worried about the viewer being unable to take interest in a harsh story about kids growing up in hostile circumstances, a military zone. He choses the path of "childish imagination" to shed light on their predicament. The two kids dream about America, about Superman. Their dreams could of course have been used in a good way but here this land-of-nowhere is reduced to formulaic scenes: two kids screaming their lungs out on top of a hill, action-packed danger scenes, a donkey called Michael Jackson, a small romance, even.... The cinematography is much too neat and the music enhances the sugary vibe.