ChikPapa
Very disappointed :(
Stoutor
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Mischa Redfern
I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
Catherina
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
magilroy
Simshar, directed by Rebecca Cremora, as the official submission to the 87th Academy Awards from Malta. The movie takes place in a fishing village that is controlled by the European Union in Malta. The fisherman of Malta face many challenges when fishing for their coast is over fished and they have to go farther out to catch any fish. Not only is there a lack of fish, but a license is required to be able to fish, which is the main problem the owner of the Simshar faces when trying to fish. Mixed in with the fisherman in this movie is people immigrating from Liberia by boat. I was very intrigued while watching the movie because it was full intense cinematic moments including the struggle to survive that our main characters face after their boat blows up in the middle of the ocean. I think this movie is a must see as it shows a different global perspective that I have not seen in any American films. It enlightened me to one of the reasons why a boat owner may not rescue a person drifting in the sea. I gave this film a 7/10 because it was a joy to watch and taught me a few things.
Cameron Crawford
This movie was very eye opening. I had no idea the amount of immigrants that go from Africa to Europe, but this movie really showed me how often it does happen. I enjoyed how the movie had a two separate plot lines that lined up. The boat that had all the refugees was very interesting, especially when the Red Cross shows up. When Alex first got on the boat, he was very upset that he was made to stay there by the lieutenant, but over time, he learned about the struggles that the people went through, and coped with them. Any movie that shows a progression of a character over time is very interesting, and this movie was no different. The other plot line of the movie was based around the Shimshar ship. Simon, his father, and his son Theo went on a fishing trip, but it all went wrong when the freezer started an electrical fire. They then all get stranded on a raft, and have to survive for three days. This is when the lieutenant shows up, and helps Simon's friends to get a search party together. The lieutenant is not allowed to do this, so he gets punished, but the rescue crew finds Simon. The movie ends on a sad note though, because Theo and Simon's father both die. Overall, this movie summarized the struggles of the African immigrants and fishing in Malta.
Jack
This movie really gave some great insight into the perspective about immigrants. What struck me most about the film is how when one boat had a chance to save the lives of three people, one of which was a child, decided to not save them. They must see so many immigrants to the point where if they stopped to save them all that they wouldn't make any money. It is hard to imagine being out at sea and completely ignoring people who you could have saved. It also was interesting to see the struggles the fishermen were having. It made me want to look into why they weren't able to just go out and fish. Nautical borders popped up which made me wonder why in the end of the movie the men who wanted to go look for the three people stranded at sea could not. I could see having restrictions on fishing, for whatever reason, but it is hard to think that these people can't just go out anytime they want to on their boat. I decided to look deeper into the real story of Simshar. Simon had a role as an extra in the movie, which I thought was interesting. The director has known him for 6 years. Simon and his wife are back together now. The cargo ship that was focused on that did not save the characters in the movies actually saved some people later in real life. I think that is very interesting. They decided to not save one group of people but then later decided to save others. There were five people in real life, with only one of they surviving. There was an investigation and there is little evidence that the events actually happened the way the lone survivor described them. It seems that there is not many remains and there is nothing to discredit the survivors account.
Lily Schneider
The 2014 film called, "Simshar," inspired by true events, and directed by Rebecca Cremona, is a slow paced, yet somehow exhilarating film concerning the tragedies of Simshar -- the boat and the people on board. This film, although somewhat slow and tedious, kept me on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next. There were many obstacles the main characters faced that caused me to be frustrated for them because they were in such tough situations on the water. Many global perspectives can be inferred and taken from the film in different ways. For instance, when the main characters (including the father, his son, and the father's friend) were hanging on for their lives on one raft in the ocean, they were seeking for help, obviously. However, when the father's friend was waving his hands for help when a big ship went by, the ship decided to keep moving along because of the color of the father's friend's skin. This was interesting and somewhat shocking to me -- to see the line drawn out between immigrants and other people within a country. This intrigued me, and it set a new global perspective out for me.