The Long Goodbye (I) (2020) User Reviews

Where ya' from?

[ferguson-6 · 8/10 · 17 February 2022]

Greetings again from the darkness. "Where ya' from?" It's a seemingly innocuous question that most of us have asked others without giving it much thought. But imagine living in constant fear in your own country because of how you look. Many immigrants in the UK live with that fear on a daily basis, and that's the point of this stunning 12-minute short film from writer-director Aneil Karia and co-writer and star Riz Ahmed.

Officially, the entire cast is uncredited, but of course we immediately recognize Riz Ahmed from his Oscar nominated performance in SOUND OF METAL (2019) and his Emmy winning role in "The Night of" (2016). The excitement builds within the tight confines of the home as a family and friends makes preparations an upcoming wedding. Through a window Riz spots some police activity. Soon, a siege is occurring and those in the house are being round up - women and kids in vans, while the men are made to kneel in the street.

The normal day quickly evolved into a nightmare, and the final couple of minutes features Riz in a pointed rap-rant meant to convey the fears of those who look different. "Where ya' really from?" is the question that cuts to the core of the message. Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed certainly deserve the Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.

Attention to the details.

[igornveiga · 8/10 · 17 July 2022]

A great short film, really worthy of an Oscar, full of small details that to the most inattentive eyes the construction of the narrative goes unnoticed, which seems distant and absurd, but very real in several countries (especially the rich ones who explored several other countries in Africa and South America). The final speech that brings a strong message, against racism, xenophobia and all kinds of prejudice is the highlight of this short.

Happy that Riz Ahmed won his first Oscar, he deserved it, the short film is really impactful, even for me who is Brazilian and in our country this xenophobia against people from other countries is not so strong.

The Long Goodbye (Short).

[khalidmoubile · 8/10 · 18 February 2022]

Well well well, this is my first time watching a short movie and it won't be the last one.

Some important political messages within 12 minutes, great job from Riz Ahmed and his magnificent performance, I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about performance in a 12min film but I can not ignore that one.

Made my night.

Powerful, hard hitting short film

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 9/10 · 29 June 2020]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Riz and his family are having a typical, ordinary time in their suburban home, with the extended family behaving in their rowdy way, from his young nephew to their grandfather. Meanwhile, in the background, a far right march is taking place on the telly, which escalates out of control and comes to a shocking outcome on their road, involving all of them.

Riz Ahmed has become something of an under the radar pop culture figure, now commanding enough star power to command fifty five quid for his autograph and picture at this year's London Comic Con, if it still goes ahead at it's rescheduled date in November. But in spite of this, he remains a dedicated social activist, lending his name to this unflinching little short piece, an elaboration on his Where You From track, which he incorporates into the end scene. While it might alienate some, he's as dedicated to his music as his acting, and he delivers it in a way they ends up giving it a bit of extra power and depth.

Despite the seeming mundanity of everything that seems to be happening at the beginning (British Muslims really just living the everyday chaotic home life we all do!), there's clearly something ominous in the air, a dark sense of foreboding that this isn't going to end nicely. It probably speaks to some ingrained prejudice in me that a member of the group might be about to go off on some suicide killing mission (or maybe something in the title The Long 'Goodbye') but instead it's a short, sharp shock of the nightmarish finality far right extremism can lead to, with the innocents who pay the ultimate price, while others (their white neighbours, the police) look the other way.

It plays like an elongated public service announcement, and would work well playing during the adverts when the cinemas reopen. Despite his increasing star status, you have to admire Ahmed for still highlighting important issues, despite his increasing star power. ****

Great short with a strong message

[webjunk-62635 · 9/10 · 28 March 2022]

It is a shame that allegory is wasted on so many people - IT'S NOT MEANT TO BE REAL!

The words are easy to understand if you pay attention.

A great short that gets its TRUE message over very well. You may have experienced this message, or must know those who have, or may be one for whom the message is aimed.

Riz Ahmed gives a deeply felt depth.

The Long Goodbye

[Prismark10 · 8/10 · 14 April 2022]

One reviewer said: When was the last time you heard about a group of radical right-wing fascists walking the streets, destroying doors, getting everybody outside, forcing them to kneel down and then shoot them all in the head?

Ukraine 2022 after being invaded by Russian troops.

Riz Ahmed might claim, the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. It was the Muslims that faced genocide. The rest of the European nations stood by and did nothing.

A UN protection force consisting of Russian and Ukrainians instead of protecting Muslims in Sarajevo, helped the Serbs to bomb the city.

The Long Goodbye is an Oscar winning short with a simple message. You must always be on your guard, especially when you have populist governments that turn a blind eye on the rule of law.

The Conservative government in Britain fits the bill. What is more they like nothing better than to appoint asian heritage home secretaries to pass even more draconian immigration laws. They like to pretend racism doesn't exist.

Uncle Tom and Aunt Jemima would be a better label for these politicians.

The film starts off with an Asian Muslim family getting ready for a family wedding. Everything seems normal but Riz feels panicky.

Later a group of paramilitary fascists burst in and spoil the party. They take the Muslim men outside and shoot them. The police stand by and watch.

It might look unreal. Then again I would had said back in January 2021 that a group of fascists would storm the Capitol building in the USA to stop the confirmation of a new president as absurd. It actually happened.

Riz Khan and Aneil Karia have made an agitprop polemic. It ties in with Khan's music career. It is an attempt to shock and create debate.

Powerful and Unexpected work

[asnjahangir · 9/10 · 31 August 2020]

It's an amazing short film conveying more than most 2 hours long films. Must watch.

Yea okay, but why though?

[isaacsundaralingam · 5/10 · 7 March 2022]

These kind of politically charged short films are getting old. And by "these kind" I mean the ones that hyperbolize very real social conflicts with nothing new to say.

It's a well made short film though... Well acted, well shot, well edited, well graded... Also kinda murky on the Sound Design but not too distracting.

But yea, overall... 5/10.

a manifesto

[Kirpianuscus · 8 May 2023]

A manifesto against racist hate and against complicity of authorities to a form of encouragement of brutal expressions of exclusion.

A confession, in same measure.

A recapitulation of an attitude of fear and vulnerability and abuse against the other.

A large family and its prepaires for a happy event. Paramilitary in neighborhood. And brutal intervantions against people . Pure racism at the first sight.

But the final part is a good demonstration about little more . Riz Ahmed proposes a large - precise portrait of the relations, source of hate, integration in British society , history of U. K. and the premises of global society, out of race or origin of ancesters.

In short, just a powerful film.

Powerful

[PedroPires90 · 8/10 · 15 March 2022]

This is a very good one. Powerful, meaningful, shocking, urgent and with that star power of Riz Ahmed. British society is not a perfect one - is there any? - and even with all the integration and diversity, these pieces of s:it are well among us.

Don't care about people who think the police officers shouldn't be portrayed like this. Police forces are full of racists scumbags in any part of the globe. Yes, there are good cops. That's not the point. Move on.

Harrowing to say the least...

[eskimosound · 10/10 · 3 April 2022]

I hope people don't live with that kind of fear in the UK. I'm not sure what to think. I was horrified that people even thought this could happen but it also seemed like some street rap/beat/poetry video.

Some people can't see past their...

[unobaba · 10/10 · 31 March 2022]

Going back to the early beginnings of "cinema" yes cinema. The art of storytelling was intended to be a visual expression. You cannot get more visual than the ethnic class or the color of peoples skin, race or creed. This is an "ism" that's existed from the beginning of time. This movie short does exactly what a film should convey and personify. Love it or hate it, One cannot ignore the message.

Utter shock value, utter absence of talent and realism

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 17 March 2022]

"The Long Goodbye" is a co-production between the United Kingdom and Netherlands from 2020, so not super new, but the pandemic with all its delays also "helped" in postponing this film a bit and as a consequence it is nominated for an Oscar now in 2022. In the live action short film category. I think most people are off the opinion that this is the most likely winner, even if this category is really wide open every year. But it also seems to be getting easier to predict now in the 2020s compared to what it was like ten years ago or so. We will see if this really wins. I absolutely hope it will not. By far the worst nominee. They already picked a pretty bad film as winner last year, but this one here would be even lower. If it does win, then it is once again proof that it is all about political agenda and not about really good filmmaking here and that would be quite sad. The writer and director was Aneil Karia and his co-writer was lead actor Riz Ahmed. Definitely the biggest name you find in the nominated short films this year. He is there early on too, but it is way more about the second half when all focus is on him really as he performs a rap number on the street while a true tragedy happens only a few meters away from him. His music performance was quite poor. He may be a talented actor in other projects, but his rapping did not win me over one bit. But he was not the key problem here.

The key problem is that this is a film that will only create further tension and not solve anything. When was the last time you heard about a group of radical right-wing fascists walking the streets, destroying doors, getting everybody outside, forcing them to kneel down and then shoot them all in the head? This is not something that happens in reality. Not anymore at least. I am not sure about 80 years ago. Or when slavery existed. So is this supposed to serve us as an example what happens if we do not stay alert and step up against discrimination and racism? I just don't see the point. Of course, the shock value is massive, but if it is not delivered to us with a convincing or at least touching story, then it is really nothing other than shock value. Very limited approach. Difficult to even call it a movie for me. The camera work felt shoddy and all over the place for the most part and don't tell me this was all intentional and a stylistic choice. At least not fully. Ahmed speaking to us directly when he watches the camera was supposed to be haunting, but seemed only try-hard to me. Anything positive I can say here? Yeah well, one/some of the girls was/were pretty cute in the scene up there when they were dressing up or so. That is all. The rest of the film is despicable in my opinion and it will do no good, only stir up trouble, so the fewer see it, the better. Another reason why I hope it will not win the Oscar because such a triumph would mean additional attention. By the way, at 13 minutes it is also the shortest from the nominees, which is a good thing. Don't be fooled by the title. My lowest possible rating for this one and I absolutely do not recommend the watch. Sad to see Ahmed agree to be a part of this mess. I thought he would see through this. He's a double Oscar nominee and Emmy winner after all. Sigh. Be better than him and don't be among those applauding the outcome here. Or, even better, skip the watch.

Dialogue is mostly unintelligible ***Spoiler alert, but I'll warn you first***

[theseekerhp · 1/10 · 2 March 2022]

This might be a great short film, but since the way the sound is mixed makes it impossible to understand most of what the characters are saying, who can tell? I'm sure the artsloitation crowd will claim to love it, but I don't just automatically love a film just because it has some attributes that satisfy my intellect; in this case, an admirable sense of social justice.

I generally don't have trouble understanding non-Americans speaking English. In this case, the trouble is the *sound* of the film.

The producers apparently didn't think that whatever they're trying to say is important. When Riz goes into his a cappella rap (it actually took me several lines before I realized it was a rap, since there's no beat or any accompaniment), no more concepts come through (not that many had come through before this), just a few words here and there. Enough to know that he's rapping about racial hatred, but I already know that exists in the world; I'm more interested in ideas that change my perspective. Maybe the ideas are there, but the producers apparently don't care whether the audience hears them. That's just contempt for the audience.

Another quibble is that I didn't know where the film was supposed to be set. In the last half of the film, you see men with uniforms that say "POLICE" across their chests, so I thought maybe it was a dystopian United Kingdom that they were showing. I'm pretty sure now that that's the case.

***Spoiler alert: I will say that the image of authorities pulling innocent people from their homes for immediate execution struck a chord. 10 years ago it didn't seem possible, but nothing seems stable anymore. It seems now like it could be possible in the not too distant future.