The history of Into an unknown country seems to follow as a rule for writing and directing the movement the quote by Edward Said with which it begins: “The destiny of the Palestinians is not to end up where they came from, but in an unexpected and distant place.” Its characters, cousins Chatila and Reda, are two young Palestinian men from Lebanon living in exile in Athens and trying to get to Germany to rebuild their lives: the few days we spend with them are fine, otherwise it’s adventure, at least pure adventure, where things are constantly branching off, going wrong, starting over, going somewhere else.
The Palestinian-born filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel – who grew up in Dubai and in a refugee camp in Lebanon and has lived in Denmark for a long time – constructs this first feature film (after documentaries) as a duo film, playing on the contrast between seriousness and anger. The angry Chatila (Mahmood Bakri) and the more volatile and dreamy Reda (Aram Sabbah), heroin addict and occasional sex worker – the film does not take the opportunity to utter cliches. Ultimately, it is the more responsible of the two who proves irresponsible, involving his cousin in increasingly difficult plans to raise the money for their departure to the West. If the film, like its heroes, remains stuck to the point of lack of distance on this somewhat criminal path that wants to please but does not particularly appeal to him, it retains certain qualities as a character study. He follows them on the streets and in the buses, with his caressing 16mm camera, never ceasing to ask the question about the Palestinians’ goal.
