"Transit" has a pretty cool premise. It's based on a WWII-era novel about refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. But the filmmakers present it as a story happening in the present day without updating the material. So people are still fleeing Europe because of a Fascist regime (though the word "Nazi" is never spoken), they travel primarily by boat, and there are no such thing as cell phones. But there are modern-day cars and dudes in athleisure wear jogging in the background. What this does is draw comparisons between the the plight of those escaping Fascism during WWII and the refugees of today fleeing war-torn countries.
The movie treats everything so matter of factly that the updated setting doesn't immediately strike one as incongruous. I didn't really even think about the lack of technology, for example, until I read other people's comments about the movie and then thought, "oh yeah, why didn't anyone have a cell phone?" It makes the world of today look not that different from the world of yesterday despite all humanity's promises to learn from its past.
"Transit" is a well-made movie with good acting, but it never really came alive for me. The whole thing remained a little too abstract and cerebral. I found myself admiring the exercise, but not especially involved in anything happening.
Grade: B+
The movie treats everything so matter of factly that the updated setting doesn't immediately strike one as incongruous. I didn't really even think about the lack of technology, for example, until I read other people's comments about the movie and then thought, "oh yeah, why didn't anyone have a cell phone?" It makes the world of today look not that different from the world of yesterday despite all humanity's promises to learn from its past.
"Transit" is a well-made movie with good acting, but it never really came alive for me. The whole thing remained a little too abstract and cerebral. I found myself admiring the exercise, but not especially involved in anything happening.
Grade: B+