EIFF REVIEW: Jasmine Road a tear-jerker with a message: ‘They’re just like us.’
A redneck rancher unwittingly becomes the host of a family of Syrian refugees. What could possibly go wrong?
Better yet: What could go right? Jasmine Road, the opening night feature at the Edmonton International Film festival, looks on the positive side of the immigration issue that has touched nearly every Canadian. Writer-director Warren Sulatycky takes it down to a personal, emotional, and honest level you never get on the evening news. The result is an edgy yet surprisingly gentle tear-jerker – one that can make your blood boil at the same time.
“Build a wall!” says one goof at the local coffee shop. “We have the longest unprotected border in the world – and they just come on through! They should just go back where they came from.”
Does this sound familiar?
Set in the foothills town of “Red River” – Longview, Alberta, and its gorgeous environs playing the role – Jasmine Road focuses on a widower named Mac Bagley (Greg Ellwand), who is now all alone with his two horses on his sprawling ranch. His only daughter Loretta (Caitlyn Sponheimer) is a schoolteacher who bonds with one of her new students Heba (Melody Mokhtari), who was recently evacuated from a refugee camp near the devastated Aleppo, Syria, with her mother Layla (Aixa Kay) and brother Salem (Ahmed Muslimani). Her grandparents are dead, dad is missing, and they lost everything they had. Hard to imagine.
It’s harder to imagine a greater culture shock for these people than moving to Canada. “Can I play hockey, too?” asks the kid, watching the strange new sport on TV. “When it snows,” says the mom. Wait, what? “It snows?”
Loretta eventually arranges to sponsor the family, and have them move to the ranch – against her father’s will. That’s when the sparks fly, yet in completely unexpected ways. Of course there’s more conflict with area racists, a scuffle here and there, but for the most part the film steers clear of anger and violence; instead, with rich dialogue and well-drawn characters, we are gifted with a remarkable insight into people who are “just like us.” Each of the main characters has suffered loss, and lives with terrible grief. They each have their own story, dreams, wishes; and as they interact, and heal old wounds, we see new relationships blossom and old ones strengthen. The element of “magic” adds an extra emotional layer to an already heartbreaking, heart-warming story. Better bring Kleenex.
Jasmine Road screens in a real theatre tonight (Thursday, Oct. 1) at the Landmark Cinemas 9 City Centre, and through a pay-per-view on Superchannel. See here for details.
