A Syrian refugee reluctantly agrees to have his back tattooed by a renowned artist, making his body a priceless work of art. It's an intriguing premise, and the film is at its strongest when it focuses on this Faustian bargain and makes comments about how the affluent blithely ignore suffering in the world, and worse yet, don't even recognize the humanity of others. It's ironic that making a statement about this seems to be the intention of the artist himself, and yet, with the way he and his assistant treat the man, they do the very same thing. The dynamic between the artist and refugee should have been explored more, and in nuanced ways, but there is no denying the power in the scene where the artwork is auctioned off. I also found it interesting that just as in Minari, the immigrants work at a factory where baby chicks are sorted, a metaphor for just how calmly cruel humanity can be.
Yahya Mahayni turns in a good performance as the refugee, but I sometimes thought his character's motivation was suspect. The biggest issue, however, is that despite its interesting concepts, the film also included a love triangle. As charming as a couple of the moments this gave us were (the impromptu dancing on the train comes to mind), overall, it's banal and a massive distraction. The film tries to do too much, including an unpleasant scene that would have been better left to Dr. Pimple Popper, and an ending sequence that showed little artistic restraint. It's too bad, it took away from what could have been a much more powerful film.
Yahya Mahayni turns in a good performance as the refugee, but I sometimes thought his character's motivation was suspect. The biggest issue, however, is that despite its interesting concepts, the film also included a love triangle. As charming as a couple of the moments this gave us were (the impromptu dancing on the train comes to mind), overall, it's banal and a massive distraction. The film tries to do too much, including an unpleasant scene that would have been better left to Dr. Pimple Popper, and an ending sequence that showed little artistic restraint. It's too bad, it took away from what could have been a much more powerful film.