Dheepan

I am a fan of Jacques Adiard's films (A Prophet and Rust & Bone), so when I heard he won the Plam d'Or at the Cannes festival for his latest film, Dheepan (2015) I knew I must see it. It is the story of one the faceless refugees and immigrants that populate Pari. Adiard has given one a name, Dheepan (played by Jesuthasan Antontythasan) and backstory to unravel in this striking film. Dheepan is a former Tamil Tiger who has lost everything, thus he tries for a new life outside Sri Lanka and pulls together a make-shift family in order to get out-his wife and daughter are openly hostile to him, but over time they coalesce into a real family, but not before their new life infringes on them. Working as a caretaker of a slum that is controlled by a drug gang-Dheepan engages in warfare with them when his "wife" is taken hostage-he is motivated by a real love to release her in a wake of destruction that resembles his past as a freedom fighter for the Tamil cause. The Criterion treatment includes: high-definition digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, audio commentary from 2015 featuring director Jacques Audiard and coscreenwriter Noé Debré, new interview with Audiard, new interview with actor Antonythasan Jesuthasan, deleted scenes with audio commentary by Audiard and Debré, trailer, and an essay by critic Michael Atkinson.