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Movie Review - The Terminal

The movie The Terminal tells the story of Victor Navorski, a man stranded in an airport terminal after a civil war breaks out in his home country of Krakozhia. As a result, he is denied entry into the United States but also cannot return home. The border official Frank Dixon sees Navorski as a nuisance and tries various means to remove him from the airport. Over time, Navorski earns the respect of the airport staff through acts of kindness. Eventually, the war ends but Dixon refuses to let Navorski leave the airport. With the support of the staff, Navorski is finally able to fulfill a promise to his late father before returning home. The review critiques how the

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Sarah Zabala-Atienza
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83 views

Movie Review - The Terminal

The movie The Terminal tells the story of Victor Navorski, a man stranded in an airport terminal after a civil war breaks out in his home country of Krakozhia. As a result, he is denied entry into the United States but also cannot return home. The border official Frank Dixon sees Navorski as a nuisance and tries various means to remove him from the airport. Over time, Navorski earns the respect of the airport staff through acts of kindness. Eventually, the war ends but Dixon refuses to let Navorski leave the airport. With the support of the staff, Navorski is finally able to fulfill a promise to his late father before returning home. The review critiques how the

Uploaded by

Sarah Zabala-Atienza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (Movie Review)

Movie: The Terminal (2004)


Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Victor Navorski, a Krakozhian (fictitious country) national, went to New York City, to fulfill a promise to
his father. During his flight, a civil war happened in Krakozhia and due to this, US does not recognize his
country. Aside from being denied from entering US, he was also not allowed to return home, and was
given an option to live at the International Transit lounge while waiting for the war to end.

The antagonist, US Border Asst. Field Commissioner Frank Dixon did not show compassion with
Navorski. He wants him out of the airport since he is aiming for a promotion and thinks that Navorski is a
nuisance. Dixon thought of ways to get rid of him and even intervened when Navorski tried retrieving
the baggage trolleys in order to get a 25 cents reward to make both ends meet.

One time, Dixon asked Navorski to help him interpret for a desperate Russian man with undocumented
drugs for his sick father. To avoid conflict, Navorski pretended that the medicines are for a goat so no
further documents may be required. This made Dixon mad and had a rough encounter with Navorski,
much to the dismay of the watchful eye of the Airport Ratings Committee who is assigned to evaluate
him for his promotion. With this, Navorski further earned the respect and admiration of all the airport
staff after the incident.

Eventually the war in Krakhozia ended. Amelia, the flight attendant he fell in love with, helped him
obtain a permission to travel within the US. However, Dixon refused to sign it and blackmailed Viktor
that his friends will be fired if he will not return home. Upon hearing this, his friend Gupta made a scene
by running towards the plane bound to Krakozhia and asked Navorski to go to New York since the flight
is delayed. The entire airport staff supported him on this despite Dixon’s orders to his subordinates to
stop him. He immediately proceeded to where Benny Golson is performing. He finally fulfilled his
promise to his late father to complete the autograph of his 57 favorite jazz musicians before happily
heading back home.

The movie was truly moving since it’s not far from happening in reality. People in power should be
compassionate towards those who actually need help instead of using it to push them more to the edge.
Under the Public International Law, in the Law of War, it says, “Civil wars or rebellion do not violate
international law since it’s an internal matter”. For persons taking no part in the hostilities, shall in all
circumstances be treated humanely without adverse distinction. Acts of outrages upon personal dignity;
in particular to humiliating and degrading treatment shall remain prohibited at any place and in any
time. On the contrary, this happened to Navorski and indeed this movie epitomized clear violations of
international law agreements.

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