FYC: "Flee" in Best Sound

by Chris James

Sound can be more visceral than sight when recalling painful moments from the past.Flee is a unicorn of a film, a hybrid of so many styles of storytelling. In the most basic of terms, it’s a first person documentary feature as Amin recounts his journey from Afghanistan to Denmark. The use of animation in telling Amin’s story serves a few different purposes. On a social responsibility level, animating the entire film helps protect the subject and their family. From a stylistic perspective, the animation draws us into Amin’s crisp memories, only to have the traumatic flight from Afghanistan be painted with broader, more dramatic strokes. It’s as if Amin’s memory is protecting him from the details. Come the time of Oscar nominations, it could be the first film nominated for International Feature, Documentary Feature and Animated Feature. Matt St. Clair has already done a great job lobbying for it in Best Picture, which would be richly deserved. 

There is one other category that the Academy should make sure to consider Flee in - Best Sound. 

Amin's story starts as a child in Afghanistan, where he was forced fo flee as a refugee.Sometimes, traumatic images aren’t what lodges in a person’s subconscious, it’s sounds. There are many distinct moments in Flee where the soundscape fills in what visuals can’t for Amin. To start, when we travel from Amin’s present to past, we always hear the past first before the description begins. It’s as if his mind is aurally triggered by the music he was listening to as a child, the sound of a knocking door which could be his family’s doom or shrieks that won’t go away.

The most haunting sequence in Flee comes during a particularly perilous journey out of Russia with human traffickers. Amin, his mother and many other people are loaded into a freight ship making its way to Europe. The screen goes nearly pitch black as the journey goes underway. It’s easy to become seasick as the camera creates a jostling around motion. The soundscape preys on everyone’s greatest fears. Waves are crashing, rusty hinges are clanging. It feels like all hell is breaking loose above them. Below you can hear the jostling of the water. The audience feels caught in the crampt Vice that continues to get closed and more pressurized. This helps underscore a particularly haunting thought - how much is life and freedom worth? How much can one endure to live freely. Flee pushes its characters and audiences to the brink, but it does so through sound, not visuals. So many movies have shown human atrocities, but Flee puts you in the shoes of the victims and makes you feel anxiety and paranoia. To be face to face with your enemy is to know what you’re up against. To be triggered by every sound is to never know comfort.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Everyone remembers the sights and sounds (and smells) of the first gay club they went to.

Sound can also be the first sign to let one’s guard down. So much of the movie involves Amin’s identity struggle, as a refugee, an Afghan and as a gay man. His coming out moment could’ve so easily been yet another point of trauma in a life already filled with so much hardship. When his older brother takes him to the car after Amin comes out, we’re filled with as much dread as Amin. Where is he taking me and what can happen to me? As they head into a nondescript room, we hear music before we see where we’re going. The euphoria of being taken to a gay club and have one’s identify reaffirmed cannot be overstated. Sound becomes a moment of release as much as it has been a tool of fear.

**END SPOILERS**

By virtue of its construction, Flee must employ unconventional means to tell its extraordinary story. The tangible sound editing and distinct sound mix help attune viewers to the paranoia of Amin’s journey. He’s always listening before seeing, fearing what might be around the corner - good and bad. This is what great craft does, it elevates an already astounding movie and reinforces a strong narrative. While animated movies have been rewarded in the aural craft fields, Documentaries in particular are never recognized anywhere outside of their own category.Yet, sound (and editing and score) are often integral skills that make or break a doc. 

More on the Best International Feature Race

The Eligibility List for Best Documentary Feature

Comments

[Juan Carlos Ojano]

Would be an extremely deserved nomination, even win!

FLEE is the real deal and should be an across the board contender.