Review of Ghosts (2014) by Daniel P — 05 Jul 2007

I attended a screening with a q&a with the director afterwards, which brought up many interesting things about the film. Broomfield's first 'fiction' film feels very real indeed, and is definitely more than just something based on a true story.

He has experimeneted with a new style here - sometimes called 'docudrama' - and it works wonders. He did the actual research for the research for the film as he would've for a 'real documentary' - including going undercover working in factories etc in his aim to portray the experience of an illegal immigrant in the UK today.

Essentially this film tells the story of teh Morecombe tragedy few years ago, when 23 illegal Chinese workers drowed while cockling. but it goes deeper than that, touching the reasons underlying the issue of illegal immigration in both China and the UK.

We get very close to the world of Ai Quin, a young female who makes a 6-month journey via Russia and Europe to the UK in order to make money to provide for her little boy back home in China. Cast in the streets of Soho, she is not an actress and has experienced many of the issues in real life that happen to her character in the film.

One could say that she gives a wonderful 'performance' but it may not be a performance after all. Despite the serious issues the film deals with and the tragic events it is reconstructing, it also has plenty of humour and is even laught-out funny at times.

Ghosts (title refers to white Europeans by the way) is extremely thoughth-provoking and moving and a film that everybody should definitely see.