Written by Linda
December 27, 2008
Ali (Mike Almaheyu) is a 15-year-old Somalian boy who fled his homeland after his family and his whole village were massacred. Massoud (Michalis Koutsogiannakis), a 40-something Iranian man has fled political persecution, and an inevitable death sentence if he were to return to his homeland.
These two fellows join up in a desperate road trip across their (hopeful) adopted land of Sweden, where they flee the authorities and deportation, but don't really know what they are running to, only what they are running from. Along the way, they pick up Lousie, a former Miss Sweden, who has fallen on hard times of her own, and finds kindred spirits in the odd couple who are as aimless as she, but have not lost hope.
The New Country was apparently four 60-minute episodes on Swedish TV, and has been edited down for a feature-length film. Clocking in at 2 1/2 hours, the film version feels a bit plodding at times. But by the end, like the characters themselves, you find that you've become attached to the quirky people that you've been sharing a car with for this long time. The story ends with a somewhat inevitable, but extremely moving conclusion that is simultaneously discouraging and hopeful, leaving more than one person (including myself) weeping over the closing credits.
