The Front Line
March 2008 Reviewed by: Mischa Hayek Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

When perusing the shelves of your local video store, there are many good titles that you simply ignore. Perhaps it is because a film is not marketed in North America, the actors are not household names or the DVD cover is not particularly seductive. It’s a shame if The Front Line is one of the titles you overlook, because writer-director David Gleeson’s film was nominated for several prizes at the Irish Film & Television Awards, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Film Script.

The Front Line tells the story of Joe Yumba (Eriq Ebouaney), a refugee from Congo, Africa, who seeks asylum in Ireland. Granted residency and given a work permit, he is soon employed as a security guard at a bank in a tough district of Dublin. Shortly thereafter, under a family-reunification plan, he is united with his wife, Kala (Fatou N'Diaye) and son, Daniel (Brian Eli Ssebunya), though we suspect almost immediately that they are not really his wife and son. Life is improving for the three, though each of them still suffers from horrific past experiences of which we are only given a glimpse. Then crime boss Eddie Gilroy (James Frain) abducts Kala and Daniel and blackmails Joe into helping his gang rob the bank in which Joe works. Realizing that going to the police may get Kala and Daniel killed and that Gilroy may not let Kala and Daniel go free anyway, Joe takes matters into his own hands. Now he has Detective Insp. Harbison (Gerard McSorley) after him as he turns to Erasmus (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), a gangster and fellow Congolese, to help him save his new family.

In 2003, Gleeson was inspired to write the script to The Front Line when he was driving through a tough part of Dublin one day and spotted an African immigrant working as a security guard outside a bank. He was wearing an ill-fitting uniform -- his jacket was too long, his pants were hiked up high, and his cap was too big for his head -- yet Gleeson thought that the man looked happy and content with his job. He started wondering who this person was, where he came from, and if he was a refugee.

What Gleeson penned is not just a little crime story but an examination of the plight of some of the African immigrants who have experienced inhuman suffering in their homeland yet are expected to easily blend in with and adapt to Western society. Some, as in Joe Yumba’s case, seek only peace and wish to be left alone; others, like Erasmus, see violence as necessary to their survival.

This DVD release of The Front Line contains no subtitles, but it has several bonus features, including cast profiles of James Frain and Eriq Ebouaney, deleted scenes, and a theatrical trailer. The Front Line is not yet available on HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc.

Overall, the image quality is very good, but a close examination reveals a bit of softness with a slight lack of detail. Black levels and contrast are good, but occasionally the whites are blown out. As well, some of the colors seem a little off, but it’s hard to know if that’s part of the original image or if it happened in the transfer to DVD. Like the image, the sound quality is good. It displays the full sonic range and has lots of punch. What’s most important, though, is that the dialogue is very clear. Several of the characters have strong accents and in some of the scenes they speak quite softly; however, it’s all very easy to hear.

Gleeson stated that he chose Congo as Joe Yumba’s country of emigration (rather than Rwanda) because most people do not know that tribal fighting in Congo has resulted in over three million people being butchered in recent years. Gleeson’s film will leave an impression upon you long after the credits have stopped rolling.

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