OUD MAN OUT (LIMBO)

The deaths last month of 27 refugees crossing the English Channel from France was a grim reminder of the lengths people will go to carve out a new life away from their troubled homelands.

Over the years, some politicians have, however, around the world sought to turn immigration into a dirty word, exploiting fear for electoral gain.

They have tried to dehumanise and scapegoat those who undertake perilous journeys to escape oppression and economic stagnation in their home lands and they have demeaned the contribution of some immigrants to the societies they eventually become citizens of.

Drama has a key role to play in challenging that narrative.

Occasionally, cinema has done that.

Charlie Chaplin's 'The Immigrant,' Werner Fassbinder's 'Fear Eats the Soul,' Francis Coppola's 'The Godfather,' Pawel Pawlikowsi's 'The Last Resort,' Jim Sheridan's 'In America' and Lee Isaac Chung's 'Minari' are all examples of movies which addressed the immigrant experience, setting a high bar for any filmmaker who attempts to do so.

So please give a round of applause to Edinburgh writer director Ben Sharrock for tackling the experience head on in his comedy drama 'Limbo'.

Set on a remote Scottish island that has become a holding area for asylum seekers, Amir El-Masry's musician Omar wanders its empty roads and beaches in the dead of winter, clutching a case containing his instrument.

A Syrian refugee, he shares a house with Vikash Bhai's Freddie Mercury obsessed Afghani, Farhad and two Nigerians, Kwabena Ansah's Abedi and Ola Orebiyi's Wasef who constantly bicker.

Wasef believes when he is naturalised he is going to be signed by the English Premiership football club Chelsea but Abedi is far from convinced, often trying to deflate his dream.

On learning Omar is a musician, Farhad takes it upon himself to be his manager and wants him to showcase his skill in a local talent competition.

Omar, however, has not played his string instrument, the oud since his arrival in Britain because he is still struggling with leaving his family behind and being so far away from home.

Sharrock, his cinematographer Nick Cooke and his cast do a really effective job portraying the loneliness of migrants, as they ring home from a weather beaten phone box.

There's definitely a 'Waiting for Godot' feel about their lives, as the four men pass the time watching episodes of 'Friends,' gazing at an opera loving postman doing the rounds of houses in their cul de sac in his van and attending hilarious cultural assimilation classes in the local community hall.

The classes are run by Sidse Babett-Knudsen's Helga and Kenneth Collard's Boris who teach them British dating etiquette and how to seek employment.

As the film unfolds, a more melancholic tone creeps in as Omar wrestles with his homesickness and his housemates struggle with the fear of being deported.

However such is Sharrock's skill that he never lets the darkness smother the film's many light moments.

Nor does he allow the humour to distract from the movie's plea for more understanding of immigrants like Omar, Farhad, Abedi and Wasef.

Shot over five weeks on The Uists in the Outer Hebrides, 'Limbo' is reminiscent of the work of fellow Scotsman Bill Forsyth - particularly 'Local Hero'.

But there are also moments that would not feel out of place in a Jim Jarmusch or Aki Kurismaki movie.

Sharrock has a feel for the absurd, as the barren supermarket run by Sanjeev Kohli's Vikram demonstrates.

Abedi and Wasef's impassioned argument over whether Ross in 'Friends' cheated on Rachel is also very amusing.

So too is Farhad's obsession with a particular chicken.

And while Omar at the beginning of the film is menacingly told by some local youths that they are keeping an eye on him, a potentially dark moment soon gives way to a soft centre as he joins them in the back of their car as they do doughnuts on an empty strand.

El-Masry is simply terrific as Omar, bringing a Buster Keaton style quality to the film as his character observes the madness around him.

Few actors this year have matched the intelligence of El-Masry's performance which captures the anxiety of Omar and the insanity all around him, without saying very much.

However the film also benefits from delightful comic turns by Bhai, Ansah, Orebiyi, Babett-Knudsen, Collard and Kohli.

With its evocative cinematography capturing a harsh Scottish winter in all its glory, 'Limbo' emerges as one of the most thought provoking and wonderfully atmospheric movies of 2021.

A real triumph of tone and substance, it is a perceptive glimpse into the challenges faced by refugees as they forge a new life in a strange land.

It really ought to be seen by a wide audience.

'Limbo' is a real treat.

('Limbo' was released in UK cinemas on July 30, 2021)