Immunitarian fictions in contemporary European film: A reading of immigration social frames through Welcome and Le Havre

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

Published 03-03-2018
María Pilar Rodríguez Pérez
Fernando Bayón Martín

Abstract

Official European political discourse increasingly identifies immigration and the arrival of refugees with threat and the need to immunize the community against dangers such as terrorism, loss of economic capacity or risk of contagion of attitudes, values and beliefs. Through the exploration of the films Welcome (Philippe Lioret, France, 2009) and Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland-France-Germany, 2011), a way of acting is suggested by the protagonists who, at the risk of losing immunity, seek instances that avoid forms of solidarity with power (Esposito, 2006b). Such protagonists exemplify a behavior of exposure to life through the contagion of emotional relationships, which contributes to blur the hierarchies between different types of lives. In these films, European citizens are exposed to punishment resulting from breaching the laws for providing support and hospitality to immigrants or refugees in situations of danger. These two films are representative of a type of European cinema which projects stories with the potential to spread the contagion of the closeness to the Other through a series of encounters in which affection wins over fear.

Abstract 619 | texto (Español) Downloads 424 XML (Español) Downloads 0

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

Keywords

immigration, immunization, otherness, borders, european cinema

Section
Single Topic Issues