The ghostsgripping thriller and a terrible true story
The ghosts is in theaters and is definitely not to be missed. Its director is Jonathan Millet, who previously distinguished himself with several documentaries including Ceuta, sweet prison and numerous short films. The ghosts East his first feature film. However, it is inspired by real facts, and by a barbarity that has already been documented but whose belonging to an immediate and silent past means that its recognition is still shrouded in a form of “fog of war”.
The ghosts takes us, immediately after the end of the recent Syrian civil war, on the hunt for a Syrian war criminal, torturer and the terrible prison of Saidnaya. In this prison, often described as a “death camp”, thousands of opponents of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime have lost their lives, under torture or serially executed by hanging. According to Amnesty International, between 2011 and 2018, around 30,000 inmates died there.
A paranoid and disturbing film
On this terrible reality, which Jonathan Millet leaves completely off-screen and never suggests except through the rare words of the characters, The ghosts offers an unspectacular but perfectly gripping spy thriller about a man, starchin mourning, tortured in Saidnaya, and clandestinely following his executioner throughout Europe. Because Hamid has never seen this name Harfazhaving systematically had his eyes blindfolded or his head covered during interrogations and torture, it is through his other senses that he must follow the trail. Smells, and hearing in particular, with Hamid listening through headphones to the testimonies and stories of other detainees.
With great economy of means – like its characters – the film The ghosts manages to create a terrible external tension, impalpable and invisiblebut there. We understand that Hamid, under a false identity, and his fellow hunters are themselves threatened by the Syrian power. Without having visual knowledge of his “target”, Hamid must therefore approach it with caution, paranoia and even uncertainty. Between Munich, Strasbourg, Paris, is he on the right track?
Another great performance by Adam Bessa…
Adam Bessa is a star. If the general public does not know him yet, or only as a supporting actor in films Tyler Rakethe future in which he will be recognized as one of the major actors of world cinema is very close. He has indeed, both on and off the screen, this inexplicable aura, this mystery that Léa Seydoux also has, this full presence that at the same time suggests an absence from himself, an escape, through everything that this presence suggests. Moreover. In short, it’s not clear, words fail, it’s indescribable, and that’s why it is. a movie star.
Entirely structured around his point of view, Jonathan Millet’s camera films Adam Bessa at all distances, with all angles and with the actor’s almost “signature” shot, medium shot of the upper body in profile, face divided between shadow and light, evasive gaze. What, among other things, unites the films in which he is the protagonist, is truly this love that all the shots and lights seem to bring him. As he already did for his character in HarkaAdam Bessa does not let Hamid speak much. Everything is internal, in the tensions and movements of the gaze and jaw, everything is in his approach, that of a “ghost”, evanescent and damaged, elusive because frail and elusive.
The ghostswhose economy of words and the effect of wandering given to Hamid’s journey sometimes cause downtime, culminates in a long and exceptional scene, a memorable confrontation between Hamid and Harfaz. While Hamid, against the advice of the other members of his cell, approaches the security and follows Harfaz to a canteen. The latter, recognizing a Syrian compatriot and without suspecting that Hamid is persecuting him, invites him to his table. Each hiding his own secret, the executioner and the victim then “know each other”.
…and Tawfeek Barhom
To face Hamid/Adam Bessa another top actor was needed. And, noted inside The Cairo ConspiracyPalestinian actor Tawfeek Barhom gives a performance as Harfaz that is as brief – he is the hunted character and the distant silhouette of the film – as it is phenomenal in instilling a dull terror.
We value our words when we write that this comparison maintains, although in a completely different genre, a tension and cinematic power comparable to that of Heat. In this type of dialogue sequence, in fact, the direction often has little room for maneuver, with an inevitable shot/reverse shot, so it is essentially up to the actors to do the work. Face to face, the two young actors manage, with and despite inauthentic words, to translate with a force as terrifying as the subject, the immense tension of the current situation and the infinite horror of their shared past.
These emotional points of the particular drama unfolding on the screen are paired with more universal questions, which run throughout. The ghosts. Who are we when we are underground? How do you do justice when no institution is responsible for it, when this justice would be done “illegally”? How can you avoid becoming an executioner yourself?
A sublime realistic thriller
In his intentions, The ghosts can also remember The Office of Legends That Monk AND Secret conversation. But also mention Mosul AND Harkabecause Adam Bessa appropriates it and once again brings with him a silenced and ignored history of the Arab world, giving existence to individuals – and their struggles – who are invisible, who are “ghosts”.
Jonathan Millet tells in a spy thriller, with realism and almost documentary truthfulness, a true story of these ghosts. With this character and his path entrusted to him by the director, Adam Bessa takes him into this story extraordinary cinematic powersuperior, and sublime, mixing in the same representation great cinematic sensations and a political invitation, a deeply and concretely human speech to look in the face an immense recent tragedy.
The ghosts by Jonathan Millet, in theaters from July 3, 2024. Above is the trailer.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
