Although it is commonly associated with entertainment for children, animation can be used to successfully portray heavy topics, such as those presented in Flee (2021). In the film, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, the story of Amin Nawabi, a refugee from Afghanistan, is shared through a chronological retelling of events by Amin himself. The animation, in combination with real video footage, evokes a deep emotional response from watchers and creates a sense of sympathy for refugees with stories similar to Amin’s.
At the film’s start, Amin is presented at his current age to begin telling the tale of his refuge, but, shortly after, the audience is shown Amin’s childhood self. By establishing the character as young and innocent, audience members can immediately connect to the story emotionally, as people tend to be more understanding and gentler towards children, especially those in troubling situations, as the circumstances are out of the child’s control. This narrative is reinforced as Amin shares his story, beginning with his father being taken away from his family, never to be seen by them again. Shortly after this, Amin’s family is forced to leave their home country, Afghanistan, permanently. They escape to Russia where they are being helped by Amin’s brother who had left to live in Sweden when Amin was very young. This transitions into a new section of Amin’s life, where him and his family are constantly fearful of being found by Russian police and are searching for a way to leave Moscow to join his brother in Sweden. His family’s desperation is then met with the chance to send his sisters out of the country, an opportunity given to them by human traffickers.
The departure of Amin’s sisters in the story is portrayed using three methods: a more primitive animation done with natural colors and faceless figures, the full color and specific animation used in the majority of the film, and with real footage. This transition in the film provides real context for the terrifying nature of Amin’s conditions, as the scene follows his sisters as they are locked in a shipping container and loaded as cargo onto a ship and left there until it arrives at its destination. It begins with a dark animation with shadowy figures pushing refugees into the freight container and then switches between real images of a ship at sea crashing through waves and the refugees suffering through the journey. Finally, the sisters are shown in full animation, crying. Footage of the ship they boarded coming to shore and being discovered plays afterwards.
The scene moves the audience to feel the fear and sadness that comes with fleeing from home out of necessity. By incorporating each different style of films in the scene of Amin’s sisters’ travels, viewers become more involved in the story and how it encompasses the world around Amin; It brings the audience from just feeling for Amin to feeling with him. It allows for a greater sympathetic connection to Amin and continues to enhance the film as it follows Amin through the rest of his life, where continues to face struggles that now feel more real to viewers, who have a deeper concern for these specific challenges after seeing how they have unfolded for other characters already.
I agree! The way that the film portrayed this event definitely made me feel like I was experiencing it with Amin and the emotions were so real to me. The way this film made me feel so connected to their story really helped me to deepen my understanding of the plight of refugees. I also find that the choice of sound effects and music in the film helped me to better sympathize with the characters.
I also agree that the colors in certain scenes captivated the viewers’ emotions and the shadows would help to create that ominous, unknown feeling. Throughout the entire film, it feels like we are alongside Amin on his journey to a better life.