zemilex Review of Geboren in Absurdistan

Geboren in Absurdistan (1999)

A light-hearted look at European bureaucracy

[8/10 · 12 August 2008]

A previous poster, Mr 'Foreign Journalist' slated this film for essentially being anti-Turkish. On the contrary, the film portrays the bureaucratic nightmare facing a Turkish couple when their child is born in Austria - the Austrians are portrayed extremely critically, the Turks much less so. In many ways a simple family drama, 'Born in Absurdistan' highlights the different experiences of a middle-class Austrian couple and a working-class Turkish couple when their respective children are born - and how laws and bureaucracy can lead to inhuman situations. The Austrian couple (the husband, incidentally, works in the immigration department) has a private room at hospital and an influential father who helps them get past the miles of red tape. In contrast, the Turkish couple face a frustrating trek from one local government office to another and are eventually denied residence and face deportation. Then the Austrian couple discover that the babies have been switched in the hospital and 'their' child has already returned to Turkey as a result of its parents deportation. Suddenly, the shoe is on the other foot. Thus begins an odyssey across Europe to try to undo the 'mistake' that was made in the hospital. Both fathers are forced to learn tolerance and, in the case of the Austrian, to overcome racial prejudice. The main Turkish characters are extremely likable in this film, the Austrians typically conservative, intolerant and generally suspicious of immigrants. Using rather crude methods, the director nonetheless manages to bring humanity, humour and sensitivity to the issue of cross-cultural relations by building a story around the thing that unifies all parents: the love of one's child. The film tackles the bigotry and racism endemic in Europe, while avoiding the problems in immigrant communities - in this sense it is a somewhat rose-tinted view on racial relations, but an enjoyable film nonetheless.