Green Border Resonates

 

 

 

Green Border (2024)

Directed by Agnieszka Holland

Kino Films, 152 minutes, Not rated

In Polish, Arabic, French, English

★★★★★

 

Does this sound familiar? A group of immigrants hope for asylum and better lives. After great difficulty and payoffs to third parties they arrive full of hope, only to find themselves stopped at the border. They sneak across, are arrested, sent back, and cross again, and again, and….

 

This time, though, we’re talking about the Belarus/ Poland border and instead of Latinos, Afghans, Syrians, Moroccans, and Somalians are involved. Each are so many pawns in a wretched geopolitical struggle between a nation still locked into the Soviet bloc–Belarus under the autocrat Alexsandr Lukashenko–and Poland, whose Border Guard hasn’t gotten the message that the Iron Curtain has fallen. The Guardian has called Green Border an “angry and urgent masterpiece,” and I concur.

 

The film is mostly in black and white, but the title derives from the opening aerial shot of what looks like a tableau of meadows and sylvan forest. The latter, though, is actually a thicky wooded and treacherous landscape filled with marshes, hidden ponds, and unfriendly guards. Green Border is told in four “chapters,” the first of which shows Afghanis filled with hope and planning to join a relative in Sweden. That hope is dashed after they land in Minsk and board a van for Poland. The van is stopped at the border, where Belarussian soldiers force everyone to get out. They run through the bleak landscape toward Poland. We follow an Afghani teacher Leila (Behi DjanatiAtai) and an extended Muslim family headed by Mohamad Al Rashdi. His son Bashir (Jalal Altawil) tries to guide his wife and their children through the woods, but imagine their sorrow when the Border Guard rounds them up, drives back to the border, and in the dark of night, cut through the razor wire and force them back into Belarus. They are detained in an improvised outdoor holding area. Days later, Belarusian troops drive them to the Polish border and reverse the process. What ensues is a nightmarish game of déjà vu. Imagine literally tossing a pregnant woman over a concertina fence.

 

Chapter two takes us inside the Border Guards via Janek (Tomas Wlosok), a father-to-be. His is the classic dilemma of job versus morality. As rumors fly of the brutality of Polish guards, his wife badgers him to quit the guard. Jan, though, feels deep comradery with fellow troops and sees himself as protecting Poland. He tells his wife the immigrants are “bullets," not people. (Shades of the dehumanization of Mexican “criminals.”) Will Jan ever understand that there is little difference between the Polish and Belarusian soldiers? One might have thought Poles, who were brutally targeted by the Nazis, would remember that orders do not excuse inhumane acts.

 

In a bold stroke director Agnieszka Holland turns her attention to the humanitarian workers. They are caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. They are allowed to operate, as long as they break no laws! The can provide medical field treatment and give advice, but they cannot transport them or direct them to sanctuaries. They do such things, of course, but they risk arrest and imprisonment if they do. (Do  you recall American directives making it illegal to give immigrants any water?)

 

The final chapter follows Julia (Maja Ostaszewska), a Polish psychologist, who is willing to take direct action. One beautiful scene shows a group of smuggled African youngsters rapping the same song with the son of a Polish sanctuary family. If this doesn’t drive home common humanity, schedule a heart transplant. But, again, people like Julia literally put their lives and dignity in jeopardy.

 

Green Border has caused an uproar in Poland that only subsided a bit when Poland allowed over a million Ukrainians to immigrate. Many Poles remain outraged, though, and have accused Holland of slandering the military. One angry official said only “pigs” go to the movies, a deliberately provocative inference with fascist overtones, and a London Times reviewer called it “misery porn.” Poles also review bombed sites to drive down audience ratings and make it seem as if Green Border is a bad movie no one should see.

 

That’s rubbish. It pulls at your heartstrings, but not in made-up ways. It could well be the most important film you can watch in 2025. It’s available on numerous streaming platforms.

 

Rob Weir

 

Clear: A Crowd-Pleaser

 

 

 

Clear (2024)

By Carys Davies

Scribner, 193 pages

★★★ ½

 

Clear has been a surprise hit among readers. Carys Davies, best known as a short story writer, is Welsh, but her novel is about a small Scottish island (probably in the Shetlands) about two characters who, at first, can’t communicate. The title can be taken in several metaphorical ways, but mostly references the Highland (and Islands) Clearances.

 

History accords more ink to the Irish potato famine, which is understandable given that over a half million people died and another several million were forced to emigrate. Scotland’s Highland Clearances were, though, unspeakably cruel. The battle for the Scottish throne convulsed Scotland during the 18^th century. In 1707, Scotland (and Ireland) were officially incorporated into Great Britain, which theoretically solved a centuries-old dispute. In reality, Scots in the Highlands and Islands remained loyal to the Stuart dynasty, which was Catholic. The defeat of the Jacobites* at the 1746 Battle of Culloden forcibly solidified a Protestant Great Britain and imposed a harsh crackdown in Scotland (with hangings and deportations).

 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the “lairds” (lords) who controlled the land and clans were often English or loyalists. During the early Industrial Revolution lairds saw economic opportunity in throwing rent-paying crofters (farmers) off the land, burning their homes, and converting the fields to sheep grazing for the growing textile industry. At least 70,000–some sources say closer to 200,000–were forced to emigrate. Collectively these are called the Clearances (1750-1860).

 

Clear takes place toward the end of the Clearances, probably around 1846 during Scotland’s own potato famine. The remote Orkneys and Shetlands were among the last places for evictions. The Rev. John Ferguson is approached by an agent for a laird to sail north and dislodge the last resident from his island home. John is opposed to this but is so poor that when his wife Mary lost her front teeth, they were replaced by vulcanized rubber to save money. John is a man of principle, but because he is a Free Church** minister opposed to the Church of Scotland, he is in a doubly precarious situation.

 

Over Mary’s objection he sails north; she to follow later. John arrives and promptly falls off a cliff into the raging surf below. At some time later, Ivar spies debris floating in the water and intends to salvage it. There is also a body inside a “swimming belt” (life preserver), which to his surprise is barely alive. Ivar carries the man and random items to his cottage. The man is insensible so Ivar pokes around in his belongings and finds a picture of Mary. He hides it and falls in love with Mary’s image.

 

If you think you know where this is going, you’re probably wrong. John will slowly regain his wits but he and Ivar can’t understand each other for some time as Ivar only speaks Norn, which is neither Celtic nor English, rather a dying Germanic/Viking tongue whose last native speaker will die in 1850. Imagine trying to teach each other enough vocabulary to clear up why Ivar has Mary’s picture inside his shirt. Clear ultimately becomes a tale of self-discovery, one’s true nature, and an indirect critique of the Clearances and religious zealotry. What would be the harm of leaving Ivar alone with his goat, a blind cow, a small boat, and a hidden teapot?

 

Davies claims the island is fictional and she doesn’t identify its model.*** Clear is a quick read that many have found deeply moving. For me, the book’s ending is too abrupt and opaque. To nitpick, the big Comrie earthquake alluded to in the novel occurred in 1893, but since Comrie is considered the earthquake center of Scotland, Davies might have extrapolated for effect.

 

Rob Weir

 

* Jacobite is Latin for follower of James Stuart, whose Catholic followers remained loyal to the deposed James VII.

 

**The Free Church of Scotland grew out of the 1843 Great Disruption. In simplest terms, it was an argument over whether church ministers should be chosen by Parliament (Church of Scotland) or by parishioners (Free Church). Both are Presbyterians and both are found across Scotland. These days, though, more than half of Scots claim no religious affiliation.

 

*** There are numerous sparsely populated islands in both the Shetlands and Orkney and many have no residents. One of my favorites, the Isle of Hoy (Orkney) has 419 people, less than half of its 1800 population.

Music: Caleb Klauder/Reeb Wiilms; Effie Zilch; Michael Des Barres; Les Arrivants; Kylie Fox

Once upon a time country music was a cross between cornpone and old-time hill music. Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms take us back to those days on Gold in Your Pocket. “He’s Gone” is a flat-picked song with splashes of old time fiddle full of guitar breakouts and 1950s ambience. “Shame Shame Shame” is straight out the Wheeling Jamboree with walking bass and some rapid-fire mandolin. Klauder and Willms hail from Washington State and now live in Portland, Oregon, but songs like “Too FarGone” have a decided Appalachian vibe. Check out the pedal steel and the lyrics of “Gold in Your Pocket” and you’ll know right away that these artists draw more from the past than the stadium rock with a twang that is today’s country music. They do it well, but is this what country audiences want these days? I can say for sure, but Klauder and Willms are a nice change of pace.

 

 Effie Zilch is the name of a San Francisco-based collaboration between Evanne Barcenas and Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Steve Wreyman. On their seven-track EP Multitudes they evoke quite a few other acts, most notably Delaney and Bonnie and JJ Cale. Barcenas has a strong, smoky voice as you can hear on the blues-influenced “Prayin’ Amos.” “One Hundred Years” is quiet and folky, but she airs it out on “Only Fools” like a soul queen and Wryeman lets it rip on guitar. I don’t know their back catalogue, but I note they are often billed as a “rock” band. To my ear, though, Multitudes is more bluesy. Plus, their song “Carousel” would be at home in a honkytonk bar.

 

 

If you really want some rock n’ roll, check out the new record from English actor/musician Michael Des Barres. Its title might sound familiar: It’s Only Rock n’ Roll (But I Like It). It is, of course, the title of a 1974 hit from The Rolling Stones. Des Barres' new project is of 1970s cover songs. Baby Boomers have the new Bob Dylan film, so it’s only fair that Gen X gets its own nostalgia trip. Des Barres shreds some chords on “Search and Destroy” (The Stooges). You’ll also hear “Love is the Drug” (Roxy Music), though Des Barres’ voice bottoms out in a few places, and David Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes.” He’s better on Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen.” Des Barres can still cut wood with his axe but, he’s 76, not 18 and not a young dude. He can shout it out and has a remarkable amount of power for doing so, but he resorts to spectacle and showmanship when he slips out of mid-range tones. That said, he’s probably better at singing 70s’ songs that aging Xers singing along to their car radios to the golden oldies.

 

 

The band Yarn formed in Brooklyn and is now based in North Carolina. It’s a collection of hardworking road warriors who play 170 gigs a year, have 11 albums, yet somehow are relatively unknown. On Born, Blessed, Grateful & Alive Yarn play country, rock out, and sometimes venture into folk music. Yarn’s lineup is both stable and fluid. It is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Blake Christiana and includes drummer Robert Bonhomme, and bassist Rick Bugel. Yet is also includes a rotation of electric guitarists, including Andy Falco (Infamous Stringdusters), Matteo Joseph Recchio (Heavy Peace), and Joel Timmons (Sol Driven Train). The album’s title is embedded in the song “These Words,” a sort of country-meets-rock song about being down and out–I lost everything when I lost my mind–and makes an appeal to heaven in the way country songs are prone to do. Christiana has a soothing voice, but the band can bring it. “Turn Off the News” is somewhat evocative of a chill Allman Brothers. It’s probably good that Yarn is now in North Carolina, as they currently have a Southern rock vibe. But they retain a bit of Brooklyn ‘tude.”Play Freebird” is a serious song, but one can’t help but think there’s a bit of satire aimed at the drunken idiots who yell out for a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover at concerts. There might be too much midrange music on this album, but Yarn is a band worth knowing.

 

 

Les Arrivants are a Montreal trio that play classical Arabic and Persian music plus Argentine tango. In keeping with Montreal’s vibrant world music and jazz scenes, the band–Abdul-Wahab Kayyali (oud), Amichai Ben Shalev (concertina-like bandoneon and Hamin Honari (percussion)–are more into precision than attempts at middlebrow arrangements. This is evident in the title track of Toward the Light. The same is true of tangos such as “Bagelissimo,” or on up-tempo compositions such as “City of Ashes.” If you’ve never heard an oud, listen to the last composition. The oud seems as if it was invented to render introspective and melancholy music. Search for some of the trio’s live performances to experience their focus and musicianship in context.

 

 

Kylie Fox draws Joni Mitchell analogies because she’s Canadian and has a jazz soul. She also gets compared to Kate Bush because she’s prone to being unorthodox. Mainly there’s a lot going on inside her musical canvas. As you can see in her official video of “Brandi Baby,” Fox is filled with youthful insouciance and, as you can hear, she has a serious set of pipes. If you’re not convinced, try her title track "Sequoia” It’s an odd hybrid that could be a paean to nature, a warning to preserve it, a backdoor love song, or all three, but there’s no question of Fox’s command of it. “Alberta” is another tree song and why not, young folks these days have a far healthier view of the environment than most of their elders. Besides, I kind of like a singer who can sing about Alberta and an “Armadillo” on the same record. Plus, there’s got to be some synchronicity going on; Joni Mitchell grew up in Saskatchewan and Neal Young in Manitoba. That’s all three prairie provinces folks. And, yep, it’s also a forced analogy! Watch for Kylie Fox; I have a feeling we will be hearing from her.   

 Rob Weir