Ghosts (2006)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Nick Broomfield

Writers:

Nick Broomfield (written by) and
Jez Lewis (written by) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Morecambe Bay, February 5th 2004, 23 lives, 23 souls

Plot:

A young Chinese girl is smuggled into the UK so she can support her son and family in China. |

Plot Keywords:

Based On True Story

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ai Qin Lin	...	Ai Qin
Zhan Yu	...	Mr. Lin
Zhe Wei	...	Xiao Li
Man Qin Wei	...	Chio
Yong Aing Zhai	...	Zhai (as Wen Buo Zhai)
Devi Zhu	...	Bai
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rhys Bond	...	Police Officer
Kay Briar Fox	...	Angry Neighbour's Wife
Colin Brown	...	British Cockle-Picker
Dave Bryan	...	People Smuggler in Calais
Kan Jin Chen	...	Ai Qin's Mother
Ping Chen	...	Snakehead in China / UK
Graca Costa	...	Employment Agency Assistant
Lorraine Day	...	Angry Woman in Agency
Andrew Dodd	...	British Cockle-Picker
Shang Falin	...	Ai Qin's Father
Shalin Gallagher	...	Robert
Roger Gray	...	Police Officer
Graham Harris	...	Police Officer
Marc Hoeferlin	...	People Smuggler in Calais
Dafydd Hughes	...	British Cockle-Picker
Stewart Jones	...	British Cockle-Picker
Darren Kasselves	...	British Cockle-Picker
Ang Sheng Lin	...	Baby Bebe
Qin Rong Lin	...	Ai Qin's Brother
Sean Lin	...	Ai Qin's Son
Tao Li	...	Chinese Cockle-Picker
Xiang Li	...	Smuggled Chinese Immigrant
Raquel Marques	...	Employment Agency Assistant
Vikki McDonald	...	British Cockle-Picker
Paul Ovenden	...	Employment Agency Manager
Paul Plausin	...	Police Officer
Paul Andrew Richardson	...	British Cockle-Picker
Terry Sergeant	...	British Cockle-Picker
Mark Thomas	...	British Cockle-Picker
Jiannan Tian	...	Smuggled Chinese Immigrant
Paul Wadsworth	...	Angry Neighbour
Shu Ping Wang	...	Snakehead in UK
Lana Westfold	...	Farm Minibus Driver
Michael Whitehead	...	British Cockle-Picker
Ruby Wood	...	Girl in Duck Factory
Li Qing Yang	...	Snakehead in UK

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version)

Company:

Channel 4 Television Corporation

Trivia:

Had no scripted dialog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shooting 'Ghosts' (2006)

Harrowing but true

The dreadful plight of illegal immigrants to the U.K. has been highlighted in a number of films, including Michael Winterbottom's 'In This World' and Channel 4's miniseries 'Sex Traffic'. While Nick Broomfield was motivated by the tragedy of the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecombe Bay to abandon his normal style (of self-led investigative documentary) to film a dramatic reconstruction of their story. He handles the transition in styles well, and his film is realistic, harrowing and marked by striking photography of Britain's ugly-beautiful underbelly. Particularly good is the portrayal of the gang-master, a villain, yet also a victim at the same time. If there's a criticism its that, judged purely as drama, the story is almost too harrowing, with no hope of redemption at the end. But of course, the events depicted actually happened and, with the exception of the final chapter, continue to happen: this is an important film, and one that asks awkward questions for those of us rich off the backs of migrant labour.