Respond to these rapid questions in our Flee quiz and we will tell you which Flee character you are. Play it now.
It is possible to argue that all national borders are arbitrarily established. Thousands of people have fought for them, and thousands have died for them, but who created them? The ability to concoct a line that keeps some people inside and others outside is rare and rarer still, and the dichotomy of inclusion and exclusion that is established by geography has shaped the world as a result of its effects. ‘Flee’ is a song about how a country can be a home and how a home can be erased, and it is about the aching, beautiful space between belonging and wandering.
In “Flee,” written and directed by filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the characters are vividly rendered in an aesthetic that is visually sparse but emotionally vibrant, with a strong sense of motion and interiority, as well as a strong sense of motion and interiority. Rasmussen met Amin, an Afghan refugee who was his age when he was growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark. The two became friends as teenagers. The Mujahideen had grown more powerful during the First Afghan Civil War, which took place between 1980 and 1990, so Amin fled Afghanistan on his own and traveled alone to Copenhagen, where he eventually settled. The two became friends and remained in touch as Rasmussen pursued a career in filmmaking and Amin pursued his doctoral studies at the same time. It’s as adults when they reunite for the documentary “Flee,” and they’re ready to look back on their childhood with a mixture of honesty, wistfulness, and resignation (from Amin), as well as curiosity and patience (from Amin) (Rasmussen). “This is a true story,” an intertitle proclaims at the start of the film, and the film honors the weight of that statement with an engrossing story that is as unflinching as it is hopeful, thanks to a tremendous amount of human will.
Despite the fact that “Fleesetup “‘s is straightforward, with Rasmussen guiding Amin forward in conversation, the approach is never straightforward. Because of their friendship and familiarity with one another, the men are able to express themselves at a level of intimacy that gives the film its uniqueness while also making it approachable. The fragments of memories we have of the people we love and lose are sometimes all we have, and Amin brings them together to speak about his deep bond with his family, his struggle to reconcile his sexuality with his conservative cultural background, and the trauma of being a stateless person. Animated versions of Amin—brown-skinned, close-shaven, sporting a beard, wearing a gold chain, and sporting a world-weary expression—lie down on a couch, staring ahead and directly toward us. Each of his accounts begins the same way. Because Amin is looking up at us while we are looking down at him, a delicate balance is created in which we are active participants. As Amin slides into memory and transforms into a younger version of himself, we slide into that younger version along with him. (There are a variety of reasons to pair “Flee” with this year’s other refugee-focused film, “Limbo,” but their shared exploration of the liminal quality of time is the most compelling.)
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Returning to Afghanistan, Amin’s happy childhood (which included flying kites with one of his brothers and spending time in the kitchen with his mother) is shattered by civil war and the disappearance of his father, who had been kidnapped by the Mujahideen. While the outlines of grey collapsing buildings and beige joggers shift and melt, the figures of resistance fighters remain solidly black and scratchily shaded in, in stark contrast to Amin’s brightly dressed relatives and warmly decorated family home. To Russia, where Amin spent his adolescent years in a dreary, tedious environment: The color palette became more desaturated, the movement of these characters was reduced, and their facial expressions became more subdued Returning to the present-day city of Copenhagen, Amin’s boyfriend Kasper challenges the walls and boundaries Amin has constructed around himself. And, gradually, to another version of Amin’s past, which Rasmussen gradually unravels through the use of gently guiding questions that he asks. “I just need to make sure I understand one thing,” Rasmussen says, and the pause that occurs between that statement and his subsequent query opens up a whole new world of poised possibility for him.
Flee Quiz
The path that “Flee” takes after that reveals a number of somber truths about the disparity between the “first” and “third” worlds, as well as about the desperate measures people will go to in order to live a “better” life. “Flee” provides a welcome opportunity to pause and consider what it means to be “better” and by what standards we judge ourselves to be better. What does it matter if one is living one’s truth if one is doing so all by oneself? What level of vulnerability, and what level of grace, can we choose to allow ourselves? These concepts are brought home by a number of animated standout scenes, including: In the film, we see an overheated walk through a forest with trees so tall that they block out the night sky; a claustrophobic, vertigo-inducing scene in a container truck, with our perspective rotating around to survey the cramped quarters; and an encounter between a boat of refugees and a boat of tourists, which is both harrowing and heartbreaking in the contrasting expressions on these people’s faces. “Flee” is a reminder of the reality of the story, and when Rasmussen includes the arguments between himself and Amin about the direction of the documentary, that’s also a reminder of reality, as is the transition from animation to live action.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Flee quiz.
During an adolescence, Amin recalls having a conversation with an Iranian man who was speaking Farsi while he, an Afghan, was speaking Dari, but that statement applies to more than two people and two languages. What are the various ways in which we fail to comprehend or refuse to comprehend another person? How does this devolve into violence, into dehumanization, into negligence, and finally into a war of aggression? And what joy, what acceptance, and what love can be found once those gaps have been closed? In “Flee,” the filmmakers ask those questions and then listen to their responses with open ears, open eyes, and an open heart, resulting in a documentary that is among the best of the year.
About the quiz
The film is currently playing in select theaters, with a nationwide release scheduled for January 2022.Also, you must try to play this Flee quiz.
For more personality quizzes check this: See For Me Quiz.
