SummaryTania is a former teacher from Russia, living illegally in Belgium with her 14-year-old son, Ivan. One day, they are stopped on the street for a routine check by the police; Tania is arrested and placed in an immigration detention center for women, while Ivan manages to escape. Threatened with imminent deportation and fearful for Ivan's fate, Tan... Read More
Directed By:Olivier Masset-Depasse
Written By:Olivier Masset-Depasse
Illegal
Metascore
Mixed or Average
54
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
40% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
60% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mar 25, 2011
75
Anne Coesens, wife of the film's director, Olivier Masset-Depasse, gives a strong performance as Tania.
Mar 22, 2011
70
A prolonged stay in a Belgian immigration detention center causes more than a few chinks in the armor of a strong-willed Russian femme in Illegal, Olivier Masset-Depasse's fascinating study of perseverance in the face of subhuman treatment.
Mar 22, 2011
60
Illegal has caused a stir in Belgium, and the sincerity of the movie can't be denied. But there's little emotion to hold on to, apart from a mother's impotent concern about her wayward teenage son (Gontcharov), still on the outside.
Mar 24, 2011
50
One problem is that while Mr. Masset-Depasse frames Tania's status in vague political terms, he doesn't make an argument. Instead he creates heroes and villains in what is, by turns, a prison flick, a psychological thriller and a maternal melodrama.
Mar 22, 2011
40
Blunt, loud, and showboaty, Illegal suffers even more when compared with another recent Liège-set film about the horrors faced by paperless immigrants: the Dardennes' "Lorna's Silence."
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Production Company:
- Versus Production
- Iris Productions
- Dharamsala
- Prime Time
- Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF)
- Région Wallone
- Fonds National de Soutien à la Production Audiovisuelle du Luxembourg
- CinéCinéma
- Playtime
- Belgacom TV
- Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral Belge
- Inver Invest
- Département Tax Shelter
- Pôle Image de Liège
- Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC)
- MEDIA Programme of the European Union
- Iris Group
Release Date:Mar 25, 2011
Duration:1 h 30 m
Tagline:A Fascinating Study Of Perseverance.
Website:
Awards
Magritte Awards, Belgium
• 2 Wins & 8 Nominations
Warsaw International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
