Eye For Film >> Movies >> The Art Of Survival (1997) Film Review
The Art Of Survival
Reviewed by: Angus Wolfe Murray
At the heart of this 25-minute doc is a serious study of a genuine problem.
"Refugee - what does that mean?"
Two Bosnians in London are filmed as they wander aimlessly through a city they do not know. Memories of Sarajevo are still fresh, memories of taking your life in your hands, running through the streets bent double for fear of snipers. Here in England, they melt into the mass, forgotten and undiscovered.
"In the metropolis people wear masks," the narrator says.
These refugees are not interviewed; they are followed. The film is controlled by the writer Igor Tojcic, whose language runs sweetly into poetic supposition.
"We cannot forget. We have to live to be able to tell the story."
What he is talking about is the loneliness of separation, arriving in a safe country, suddenly free from the dangers of a civil conflict, without knowing anyone, or having a plan.
"Survival is not self-sufficient."
There is no art; there is only existence. There is no hope; there is only belief. Between the words of Tojcic, with their echo of sadness, is an unspoken understanding of youth's ability to rise above crisis and find a voice.
Reviewed on: 05 Feb 2006