Ghost Trail Critique: A Haunting Representation of Pain and Paranoia as a Displaced Syrian Seeks His Abuser
The visage of a Syrian refugee serves as the cryptic centerpiece to this slow-burning thrilling drama, the initial narrative offering of Francophone film-maker Jonathan Millet. Appearing hard, emotionless, detached, yet showing an unspeakable pain, a buried, unprocessed psychological wound, exacerbated by what is evidently a fresh deliberate wariness.
The Pursuit for Justice
The protagonist is played by Adam Bessa, a former literature professor from Aleppo who is now in the French city in the mid-2010s, having endured torture in Damascus’s notorious detention facility, and the loss of his loved ones.
The character approaches expatriate Syrians if they know a particular person, showing them a unclear image, asserting that this is his family member. In fact, it is a man who inflicted pain upon him and Hamid is a part of a network focused on tracking down perpetrators of violence throughout Europe.
Plagued by the Past
Tormented, fatigued and unhappy, Hamid’s only meaningful relationship is with his elderly mother in a temporary housing area, with whom he has frequent video chats; this a tender portrayal from Shafiqa El Till.
Eventually, Hamid notices a science major on a college grounds called Harfaz (Tawfeek Barhom) and, because of what he his odor, becomes irrationally persuaded that this is the individual. Might he represent just another blameless exile trying to rebuild his life?
Doubt and Philosophical Struggle
The student warmly requests Hamid to accompany him for lunch and there is an lengthy, intriguingly ambiguous conversational exchange, in which soft-spoken Harfaz seems to be testing his立场 about the Assad regime, or warning him to just move past it all and continue living, the way he has done.
Could Harfaz be his target – or his example? Hamid must resolve that, and then decide if he is going to take justice into his own hands.
Cinematic Comparisons
To some extent, this is similar to Ariel Dorfman’s play a classic thriller, brought to the screen by Roman Polanski, or the 70s postwar world of fugitive guilt in an influential work and a related film. The feature travels boldly across multiple continents and depicts a multifaceted world of pain.
Ghost Trail is in movie houses from 19 September.
