Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

I really liked this movie more than I thought I would. Even at slower parts, I was never bored. My favorite part was when the mother and the little brother were at home, looking out the window at the rain, probably wondering where their family was. I liked this part because the filming was really pretty and well done, like the rest of the movie. I didn't like when the commercial fishing boat, the Leca, didn't rescue Moussa, Simon and Theo. At first, when they spotted the boat I thought that that was it, and they were going to be rescued because Moussa and Simon got so excited. But when the captain wasn't too enthusiastic about picking them up, it kind of made me sad, because they were so close- but so far away. I can understand why the captain didn't save them though, since they were trying to focus on their job and there were just too many immigrants that if they saved all of them "they'd be coast guards not fishermen." I also didn't like when Moussa let go of the raft, basically knowing he would die once he did. I felt bad for Simon when he did this for several reasons. I felt bad because Moussa had just left Simon alone with a young boy who was very ill and dying. Also, Simon couldn't go and chase after Moussa because he had to stay and hang onto the raft with Theo, so he probably felt helpless. However, if I was in their situation, I would probably let go rather than hang on. If I was in their place, I would be so scared and probably lose all hope to fight for my life. I was amazed they made it as far as they did but after a while, got kind of painful to watch because I was just hoping they would be saved by a miracle.

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.

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.