Reading Response #3: War and Flee

The specific sequence that evoked an emotional response for me is Ramussen’s choice to first include Amin reading out loud his notes, revealing that the Muiahideen “killed [his] father, kidnapped [his] sister, and killed [his] mother and brother,” followed by the unveiling of Nawabi’s secret that his family is not actually dead. This sequence of events makes it seem like Nawabi is not just telling his story but also confessing it and releasing a burden that has been weighing him down from when he was a child. The decision to include that note within the first ten minutes of the film but only revealing the full context and glimpses of the story behind when and where that note was written is a stylistic choice that captivated my attention as a viewer, and it made me question whether the ghosts of our memories are something that we have to carry in silence or are we obligated to share our secrets with the world when we know truths that no one else can ever know?

I found that the style of the movie and the pieces of animation hint at inspirations from Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir about the invasion of Lebanon, which is very interesting because both of the stories told by the respective producers using a similar animation style allow stories of fleeing, refugees, and escape to exist as their own genre. They are both part of a larger movement of documentaries that attempt to liberate millions of people through telling the story of just one person. 

Another unique characteristic of the documentary Flee is the producer’s method of incorporating archived videos and footage in between the moments of animation, including in the specific scenes as part of the sequence described above. The mixture of these different forms of media give voice to Amin’s past and add new layers of depth to his life story. The style reflects the world in which Amin lives, where his reality is a combination of the perceptions of his past that still haunt him juxtaposed with his need to make sense of the present while carrying the burdens and visions of his past. The decision not to make the film a live action and to instead use animations humanizes Amin’s story because it allows us to see the struggle to survive of one person, one son, one brother, one child, and one family. When we see the news and crowds of people fleeing their countries or escaping difficult conditions, we become desensitized to the issue rather than upset or angered by it. When we hear the stories of how badly Amin wanted to survive, despite it meaning that he would have to pay human traffickers to bring him to a new place and be willing to spend months at a time without going outside in order to avoid the Soviet police, we realize that all he, and the millions of other refugees who face the same destiny, wanted to do was survive. His determination to escape and his journey enables us to remember the humanity within one another and, most importantly, in victims of their conditions and who are trying to find a place they can call home. 

We only find out the simultaneously shocking and relieving truth about his mom and siblings being alive towards the middle and end of the film, which is a device the producer uses to force the viewers to carry the burden of a dead family alongside Amin, not because his family is dead but because he had to create a new reality for himself where his family is not alive. And that is the reality that he has had to live for. The impact of this decision and the way in which it was portrayed is a reminder to the viewers of the broken fractures that displaced victims of war and violence have to live with as a result of their pasts. It brings to light issues of the past and issues of the now, reminding us that war is not only a physical experience. It is a sensation that victims must carry with them long after they have finally found a place to call home.