This clip depicts refugees singing together about their torment and pain as they remain in a state of transit in an attempt to flee their persecutors. Despite the director’s attempt to use this scene early in the film to paint the refugees as victims, this scene remains the most powerful depiction of humanity within the film. French philosopher Simone Weil, who starved to death while living under German occupation, believed that suffering causes the soul to cry out in two distinct voices. One voice which cries for relief, and the other which surrenders to the whims of a higher power. This scene is a beautiful and powerful depiction of the duality of the human spirit which Weil describes. These people are singing of their suffering to air their pain, but they do not beg for relief or for an answer. Through their painful song we see both a desire for an end to the suffering and insecurity, but we also see an acceptance of circumstance, and truth being felt by everyone who is singing. There are other scenes where people act more “normal”, but this is the only scene where people aren’t trying to ignore their circumstances, or ignoring their neighbors, or being depicted as helpless. Only in this scene do we see a deeper level to humanity, and emotional truth.

Popova, Maria. “How to Make Use of Our Suffering: Simone Weil on Ameliorating Our Experience of Pain, Hunger, Fatigue, and All That Makes the Soul Cry.” Brain Pickings, 14 Aug. 2016, www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/12/simone-weil-pain/.