Paradise Drifters is a fragmented portrayal of three homeless young adults who are heading to southern Europe in search of money, love and happiness.
Unfortunately, due to technical problems, this performance cannot take place.
Language: Dutch, English subtitles
Lorenzo’s decision to act as courier for an unspecified shipment to Marseille takes the story on the road. The three random lives intersect with Chloe seizing the initiative as she bullies her way into Lorenzo’s car and secures a lift for her and new companion Yousef. The journey subsequently continues to Barcelona where Chloe has been offered accommodation.
There is a dynamic energy to Peijnenburg’s storytelling as he occasionally fractures the timeline and lets the story fold back on itself to reveal some hidden truth. Sharply edited fades to intense black create a sense of watching brief snapshots from these lives during a journey that is marked by danger, betrayal and death. There is also a sense of the rare, genuine emotional connection that develops between Chloe and Lorenzo as their friendship grows in the face of shared adversity.
The plight of homeless young adults sounds like the stuff of grim social realism but Paradise Drifters is distinguished by its sense of hope. There is a documentary-like edge to Peijnenburg’s depiction of the tensions in the banlieues of Marseille or the frequent images of cardboard boxes and folded blankets that mark the invisible, ghostly presence of the homeless on our streets. Chloe and Lorenzo’s determination and the character-forming big decisions they take give the material a positive spin.