''Les Unwanted de Europa'' ( Italian: ''Gli indesiderati d'Europa'') is a 2018 Spanish-Italian historical black and white film directed by Fabrizio Ferraro.

Synopsis

The film depicts the final journey of philosopher

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish my ...

across the Pyrenees in September 1940, during which Benjamin was guided by Lisa Fittko along a trail (the Route Lister) along which Catalans and internationalist militants had previously fled the Franco regime into France during the Spanish Civil War; six months after, Benjamin was amongst the first of a number of groups of Jews, communists and dissidents fleeing Nazi-occupied France into Spain. Upon arrival in

Portbou Portbou () is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of people (). Portbou is located near the French border in the Costa Brava region, and frequently serves as a dropping off point f ...

, the Spanish police threatened to turn back the refugees, and Benjamin committed suicide overnight. The film does not show his death, instead depicting the journey itself in the style of

Slow Cinema Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterised by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.Steven RoseTwo Years At Sea: little happens, nothing is explained ''The Gua ...

, with minimal dialogue (selections from Benjamin's writings and conversations between the travellers, as well as between Benjamin and a librarian at the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

, discussing

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ca ...

) and sporadic use of music (by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fig ...

). Benjamin's journey is intercut with a journey along the reverse route by three anti-fascist militiamen in February 1939. The film ends with Benjamin calling out "

Blanqui Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism. Biography Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848) Bl ...

! Blanqui! Talk to me, I'm listening! I hear you" and a long, unmoving shot of Benjamin asleep on the ground.

Production

The film stars Euplemio Macrì as

and Catarina Wallenstein as Lisa Fittko. Author, musician and artist Pau Riba also features as one of the militiamen. Dialogue is predominantly French, including selections from Benjamin's writings, as well as Catalan and German. Music selections are taken from

Quartets In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

. The film was shot in

Lazio Lazio or Latium ( or ; ; la, Latium, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants – making it the second most popula ...

, Italy; Barcelona, Spain;

Banyuls-sur-Mer Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE. Geography Location Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the ar ...

, Pyrénées-Orientales, France;

, Girona, Catalonia, Spain; and

La Vajol La Vajol is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Sta ...

, Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The film premiered on 26 January 2018 at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. It was subsequently released on 24 April 2018. The film is an Italian-Spanish co-production between Passepartout, Eddie Saeta and Rai Cinema, in collaboration with the Jean Vigo-Cinémathèque Euro-regional Institute of Perpignan.

Cast

* Euplemio Macrì as Walter Benjamin * Catarina Wallenstein as Lisa Fittko * Raphaël Bismuth-Kimpe as Joseph Gurland * Marta Reggio as Henny Gurland * Vicenç Altaió as Librarian * Marco Teti as Militiaman * Pau Riba as Militiaman * Bruno Duchêne as Militiaman

Reception

The film has received a relatively limited theatrical release, though it was shown on the streaming website

MUBI Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; The Auteurs before 2010) is a global curated film streaming platform, production company and film distributor. Mubi produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusivel ...

in January 2019. It has received some critical discussion in Italian-language film journals, notably by critic Valerio Carando, who praises Ferraro's use of "openings, uncertainties, those that for institutional cinema are only imperfections, fragility to be discarded." Meanwhile, academic and critic Roberto Pittaluga discusses the film in the context of the European migrant crisis and the rise of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

in the 21st century, as well as Benjamin's own thought, writing: "''Les unwanted de Europa'' is a film about migration and exile at the time they happen, neither before nor after but in that time and that space between, the spacetime of the no longer and the not yet. And Ferraro intends, in a very Benjaminian way, to show that time and that space."

References

External links

* *
Review
(Italian)
Interview with Fabrizio Ferraro
(Italian) * Jordan Cronk,
Close-Up on Fabrizio Ferraro's "''Les Unwanted de Europa''
(MUBI Notebook, January 2019) (English) * Valerio Carando, ''Gli indesiderati : i sentieri di Walter Benjamin in un film di Fabrizio Ferraro'
(Book) (Roma : DeriveApprodi, 2018)
(Italian) * Alessandro Cappabianci, 'I sentieri dell'utopia vivente ''Gli indisedierati d'Europa,
Filmcritica
'' no.687-688, 2018: 257-258. (Italian) * Roberto Pittaluga, ''Les unwanted de Europa'' (2018) de Fabrizio Ferraro
''En Memoria Académica''
2019) (Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Unwanted De Europa, Les 2018 films 2010s historical films Italian historical films Spanish historical films Walter Benjamin