Directed by: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Maja Ostaszewska, Maciej Stuhr, Tomasz Włosok, Behi Djanati Atai
Rating: ★★★★★
Predictably the topic itself of Zielona Granica (The Green Border) was enough to spark controversy upon its premiere in Venice. The way Poland has managed the migrant crisis at the frontier with Belarus since the summer of 2021 has sparked fierce national debate as to whether migrants should be granted refugee status in Poland or forced back by the Polish Border Guard. Most certainly the ensuing war of words will survive the parliamentary elections held on 15 October 2023. On the same date Poles will be asked in a referendum their opinion regarding ”the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa”.
While Agnieszka Holland’s drama is doomed to be the ultimate cinematic succès de scandale of the decade in Poland thanks to media exposure, it was subject domestically to review bombing and harshly criticized by Polish Government representatives. The Polish president Andrzej Duda for instance repurposed the slogan “Only pigs sit in the cinema“, which had been in use when Third Reich propaganda film were screened during the German occupation of Poland. Sadly enough the vast majority of the film’s detractors criticized The Green Border without watching it and mainly for the supposed misrepresentation of Polish services.
Putting aside the context surrounding its reception, Holland’s black and white refugee film is a bald nail-biting masterstroke that places viewers in an uncomfortable spot. Except for Julia (Maja Ostaszewska), who appears last in the film, all the other characters are introduced through the narrative as groups to emphasize the collective character of the emergency at the border. First come the refugees, followed by the border guards and then the activists. The Green Border is a fictionalized account of the crisis, but the Polish director signed two actors that volunteered along the frontier to help refugees – Ostaszewska and Maciej Stuhr.
After directing the war dramas W ciemności (In Darkness, 2011) and Mr Jones (2019), The Green Border proves that Holland’s directorial prowess has not faded away in recent decades. Once again the Warsaw-born cineaste distilled a combination of thrilling scenes which is short only of car chases, due to the state of emergency declared in that period. In those days indeed the Polish governments had banned reporters and aid workers from the border zone where the migrants push backs were the rule in those days.
Not unlike Pokot (Spoor, 2017), and despite the tragical events described in the film, The Green Border, which contains footage of moose, wolves and flocks of birds from Białowieża forest, is also a no hype celebration of wilderness in Eastern Europe. Nature is indifferent to the refugees interests and the marshes they have to cross are dangerous like quicksand. As a result the director seems to stress the fact that by rescuing each other, humans, including the border guard Jan (Tomasz Włosok), are the only ones that can make a positive difference in the world.
In the stirring finale Holland manages at the same time to pay tribute to the recent efforts of Polish population, border guards included, aimed at helping the Ukrainians since February 2022, as well as to denounce Poland’s and EU’s double standards for refugees. Holland won a special jury award at the Venice Film Festival.
Film Reviewed by Giuseppe Sedia
Published by Kino Mania on October 9, 2023