It's interesting that as France and other countries around the Western world become more diverse, we're seeing more films like this. Westerners are telling the stories of their own countries as well as other, distant and more foreign ones, told through the eyes of immigrants, refugees or their descendants. Many wouldn't know much about the Sri Lankan Civil War, or that they had a civil war, with one French character in the film not even knowing where Sri Lanka is. But now, the French have produced a Palme d' Or-winning film drawing on it.
Dheepan is told from the perspective of the titular character, a Tamil warrior who comes to France as a caretaker and lives with people he knew there. They aren't actually a family, though they look like one. There's some trouble adjusting- he struggles with customs officials, to whom he tries to pass himself off as a peace activist, before admitting his real family died in the war. His adoptive daughter can't speak the language well at school, and reveals her old school was destroyed. She gets into a playground brawl. These struggles with adapting are probably more interesting than where the story goes, with the sudden action movie climax. Though much of the movie before then can be slow, there is something to like about it. Still, one comes away from Dheepan without feeling much of the wow factor. Not bad, though a weaker Palme d'Or.
Dheepan is told from the perspective of the titular character, a Tamil warrior who comes to France as a caretaker and lives with people he knew there. They aren't actually a family, though they look like one. There's some trouble adjusting- he struggles with customs officials, to whom he tries to pass himself off as a peace activist, before admitting his real family died in the war. His adoptive daughter can't speak the language well at school, and reveals her old school was destroyed. She gets into a playground brawl. These struggles with adapting are probably more interesting than where the story goes, with the sudden action movie climax. Though much of the movie before then can be slow, there is something to like about it. Still, one comes away from Dheepan without feeling much of the wow factor. Not bad, though a weaker Palme d'Or.