Ghosts
Thursday, 11 Jan 2007 13:42
The film is based on the real-life events of the Morecambe Bay disaster of 2004
Directed by Nick Broomfield, out on national release from Friday January 12th, starring a cast of unknowns led by Ai Qin Lin, running time 96 mins..
In a nutshell…
Emotive and thought provoking expose.
What's it all about?
In February 2004, 23 Chinese illegal immigrants drowned while cockling in the notoriously dangerous Morecambe Bay. Overnight, migrant labour was transformed from a Daily Mail headline to a human interest story. Broomfield's film aims to sustain interest in the tragedy, humanising the Chinese workers who lost their lives and exposing the failure of the British government and big business to respond adequately to the events.
Keen to understand the circumstances that drove the workers to Morecambe Bay, Broomfield tells the story from the viewpoint of Ai Qin Lin, a young Chinese woman who illegally makes the six-month journey to the UK in order to find work. Heavily indebted to "snakeheads" she is forced to undertake a series of exploitative and demanding jobs before arriving in a suitably bleak Morecambe
Motivated by debt and harassed by the English cockle pickers, the group of illegal Chinese migrants are forced to cockle in dangerous conditions, with the now well-known result.
Who's in it?
The film is cast entirely from unknowns, many of whom are effectively playing themselves. Ai Qin Lin was working illegally in the UK prior to being discovered by Broomfield and the rest of the cast were also chosen for their first-hand experiences.
As an example…
"Don't come to England if you do not want to get dirty."
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Critical expectations for this film are high and among art house critics it is set to do well. It should also pick up some independent awards, having been well received on the festival circuit. However, this is unlikely to translate to an Oscar win; Broomfield is not eligible for his natural category of Best Documentary and Ghosts is arguably not strong enough to succeed as a feature film.
What the others say
"A sober, sincere work with a powerfully stripped-down finale." - Total Film: Four stars
"There's no mistaking the outraged indignation which has motivated Broomfield to make a film on such a sadly topical subject…He handles the material in a sober, straightforward, quite unimaginative manner." - Neil Young at the London Film Festival
So is it any good?
Broomfield has billed Ghosts as his first foray into narrative feature films since Diamond Skulls. In truth he does not entirely abandon the documentary techniques for which he is best known. Eschewing actors for real people with similar life stories, his dramatised take on the Morecambe Bay disaster is more recreation than fiction. The boundaries between documentary and narrative are extremely blurred and the diverse range of, often grainy and handheld, camera techniques Broomfield was forced to adopt contributes to its documentary style, as does the use of factual captions on screen.
The narrative approach does, however, allow Broomfield to explore his themes more creatively. Juxtaposed scenes expose the food industry's inequalities and a set piece in which an English orchard is uprooted and burnt after the Chinese workers have stripped it bare is a neat way of symbolising the collapse of the rural idyll. Most effectively is the film's emotional final punch, with the disturbingly realistic and moving scenes dramatising the drownings.
Broomfield does nevertheless have a clear political agenda in making this film; he wants to focus attention on the plight of migrant workers to the UK, our dependency on illegal labour and the failure of the government to protect against abuse. It could be argued that this aim would have been better served by a straightforward documentary film, but the piece still stands alone as worthwhile cinema.
7/10
Kate Webb
To see the trailer for Ghosts click here .
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