This expression of a Syrian refugee serves as the cryptic core to this deliberately paced thrilling drama, the fiction feature debut of France-based cinematic artist Jonathan Millet. Presented as hard, expressionless, reserved, yet revealing an indescribable agony, a buried, raw trauma, complicated by what is clearly a new calculated caution.
The Journey for Retribution
The refugee is portrayed by Adam Bessa, a former literature professor from Aleppo who is now in the French city in 2016, having experienced abuse in a well-known incarceration center, and the loss of his wife and infant daughter.
He inquires fellow Syrians abroad if they know a certain man, presenting a hazy image, claiming that this is his relative. In fact, it is a man who inflicted pain upon him and Hamid is a participant of a ring dedicated to finding individuals responsible for atrocities all over Europe.
Plagued by the Past
Plagued, weary and discontent, Hamid’s only genuine connection is with his elderly mother in a temporary housing area, with whom he has regular digital conversations; this a heartfelt portrayal from Shafiqa El Till.
After some time, Hamid sees a university enrollee on a college grounds known as Harfaz (Tawfeek Barhom) and, due to what he his scent, becomes irrationally convinced that this is the man. Could he be just another blameless displaced person seeking to restore his life?
Uncertainty and Philosophical Struggle
Harfaz genially invites Hamid to accompany him for lunch and there is an lengthy, fascinatingly unclear dialogue scene, in which gently articulate Harfaz seems to be sounding Hamid out about the Assad regime, or advising him to just forget about it all and progress, the way he has done.
Might Harfaz represent his objective – or his example? Hamid must determine that, and then choose whether he is going to take retribution into his own hands.
Cinematic Connections
In some ways, this is reminiscent of Ariel Dorfman’s play a classic thriller, adapted for film by Roman Polanski, or the 70s postwar world of fugitive guilt in a notable thriller and The Night Porter. The feature moves ambitiously across Europe and the Middle East and depicts a complex world of suffering.
The Phantom Path is in UK cinemas from the latter part of the month.
