Terraferma

Crialese is a sentimentalist at heart, but a fine one, and his compassion for the wretched of the earth is thrillingly amped by the movie's ecstatic imagery.

A stirring commentary on our better angels.

The story gets both complicated and predictable.

Europe’s immigration dilemma was also the focus of Aki Kaurismaki’s winsome “Le Havre,” and the Africans themselves were front and center in Moussa Touré’s “La Pirogue.” This film is somewhat less effective; Crialese’s message seems to take priority over a deeper sense of individuals.

As with his previous film Golden Door (2006), Crialese proves that he’s more adept when evoking a lyrical naturalism practiced by his directorial ancestors than when he’s hand-wringing over social issues.

Its self-seriousness never allows it to become the realist counterpoint to Aki Kaurismäki's tragicomic approach in Le Havre that one initially hopes it will be.

It's all very predictable, very Hollywood. Storytelling cliché, it would seem, knows no borders.