Journey Of Hope

Though it won a 1990 Oscar for best foreign film, this isn’t too bad. A family of Kurds tries to emigrate from Turkey to Switzerland for a better life, but border hassles grow into an ordeal worthy of The Grapes of Wrath or The Wages of Fear. Swiss director Xavier Koller broaches the issues of racism and xenophobia in western Europe but dilutes his own message with a kindly Swiss trucker (Mathias Gnadinger) so good-hearted that he can make up for the gruff laws and attitudes of his compatriots. Koller collaborated on the script with Feride Cicekoglu; with Necmettin Cobanoglu, Nur Surer, Emin Sivas, and Yaman Okay. In Turkish and German with subtitles. 114 min. (JR)

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