Find scenes to illustrate the developing friendship between Shezad and Xiao. Analyse the development.
No man, as the old saying goes, is an island. It may be an old cliché but everyone needs to rely on somebody else in order to proceed. Where would the high-flying businessman be without his personal assistant? Clinton without Blair? Morecambe without Wise? The whole is almost always greater than the sum of the parts: everybody needs their friends or partners to rely on.
It is clear that friendship and the reliance on others in what can be a very lonely world as an Asylbewerber is one of the central themes powering the engine of this touching film. At every turn we see an example of unconditional camaraderie amongst those characters who are oppressed by their unforgiving bosses or refused by the indifferent immigration officers. There are cases when characters show amazing displays of trust to others they do not know at all, such as in the asylum hostel, or more interestingly in the phone box scene, where Monika asks Shezad, the film's main character, and Rashid, two refugees from another country, to hold her bags for her. This scene in particular indicates to the viewer of Shezad's inherent good nature. Moreover there are situations when reliance on others is shadowed by a conditional arrangement; Herder, the crook who runs the hostel, places a great deal of trust upon Shezad to bring in refugees from East Berlin, giving him charge of Hans' money but promising him little remuneration for the trouble - after all, he has power over him in any case.
The most important friendship, the one around which the story hinges is that of Shezad and Xiao, the waiter in the Chinese restaurant. The opening shots of the film ultimately set the scene. Xiao, suited, throws Shezad, who is working as a flower seller, out of Wang's restaurant. Medium close-up shots of them both reveal straight-faced Xiao looking down upon the Pakistani refugee, who ambles sadly away, before being summoned back inside by his master Wang. There is no language spoken at all, and little indication of their future friendship. However there isn't any enmity; they deal with this situation every single day.
Their friendship could be said to begin when, while Shezad is working in the restaurant's kitchens, they find themselves on the same level. Before this Xiao never really acknowledged his new colleague, who himself has at least said "hello" to him. But when foul chef Udo orders the Chinese waiter to clear up the mess of the dropped dishes ("If I say so you're a toilet-cleaner!"), Shezad is already on the floor to help him. Most of this scene is made up of medium shots within the kitchen, but at this point the viewer gets close-ups of first Xiao with a look of admiration and respect on his face as he kneels, and of Shezad looking up at him, smiling. Again, importantly, there are no words. They do speak to each other after work, though, and although little is actually said in terms of words, the whole story that will unfold is laid out: they both agree that Udo and Wong are scheiße to work for, Xiao has a nice car that Wong must not know about, and when he has money he wishes to own his own restaurant, 'Peking'. What's more, already in this acorn of a plan Shezad fits in, when he asks him if he can cook.
Up to this point Shezad's most important friendship in the film has been that with Rashid, his fellow Pakistani whom he accompanies everywhere and translates things from German for. Their colourful conversations in their native tongue (probably Urdu) enrich the film which is purposefully scant on actual dialogue, giving Drachenfutter the air of silent movie. It is clear he cares a great deal for Rashid, who is threatened with hanging if he returns home. It is important then that the very next scene after that with Xiao and Shezad in the Volkswagen shows Herder giving Shezad a letter in the hostel for Rashid, from the police - the dreaded letter saying he must leave the country. It is from this point he knows he will soon be losing his closest friend. It is also from the point of the next scene that the film becomes about Xiao as well; he is in the bank, being turned down by the manager in application to open the restaurant. As Shezad wraps up his friendship with Rashid, helping him at first at the immigration office then with Herder who, for a large fee, attempts to arrange his transit to America, his relationship with Xiao develops.
There is a second scene that seems to mirror the earlier scene in the car. This time however it is Xiao who opens up to Shezad more, complaining about Wang and Udo, and stating that he himself would be a much better boss. Shezad now involves himself with an open request, by asking "Boss Xiao give Shezad job?" He puts over the case for cooking Pakistani food and tells him he can cook well, but Xiao is adamant that the restaurant must be Chinese. The use of this scene, which resembles so much that previous one, is important as it shows the viewer the burgeoning involvement between the two characters and how Xiao is changing regarding Shezad. This is as yet their most important conversation. It tells us Shezad wants to be part of his new friend's venture, which offers him not only a way out of the rather profitless life he is having to lead but a greater sense of self that characters such as Udo and Herder, who belittle him and treat his kind as animals, never offer. It appears that the new partnership is sealed in the following sequence, for although Xiao disagrees that the restaurant should serve Pakistani food we know by the culinary contest that he welcomes his new friend's involvement and is willing to be democratic. We are treated to a sequence of shots of them both trying out various restaurants and bars: already theirs is the strongest friendship either of them currently have.
The simplicity in which Drachenfutter explains situations to us is apparent in every scene I have described, using minimal dialogue to propel a wealth of information. The most effective use of this device is found in the medium long-shot of the pair's silhouettes, Xiao seated on a bench, Shezad stood. There is a lamp-post, and the side of a tall building. In the foreground we see Xiao's Volkswagen. The sky is overcast, the setting bleak. A dog barks. Shezad says, "5000 Mark. Schönes Auto." In four words he says, "to open the restaurant we will need five thousand Marks. You have a nice car. We could sell that to raise the cash." What's more it tells us that they are that close now, thanks to their joint venture, that he can suggest his friend sell his beloved motor.
Through the film there is a marked change in Xiao's character. At first he appears cold and aloof. When the pair finally have enough money and are buying equipment for the new eaterie which Xiao, once so strongly in favour of 'Peking', now concedes to call 'Lahore', the Chinese is a much more jovial figure, playing with the pans as if they were mandolins. His spirit is no longer suppressed by his job at Wangs. On the other hand Shezad does not remain happy and spirited, for when he receives the police letter he knows refuses his asylum it hangs over him like a raincloud. He knows he will lose all he is building up in Hamburg. He is also troubled by the news his old friend Rashid did not make it to America.
It is important to look at the last few scenes to find evidence of Xiao's change. After Shezad is taken away by the police, he shows genuine despair upon his face while looking through the glass barrier at the airport, to which he raced after abandoning their packed restaurant on its opening day, to attempt to rescue his friend. He deemed Shezad more important than the restaurant itself. Finally on his sad return to the now empty 'Lahore', we are reminded of the opening scene, by the flower-seller coming in. This time, Xiao does not physically throw him into the street as he did with the man who would eventually help him realise his dream, but, as a close-up reveals the sense of loss and sadness in his eyes, simply shakes his head, and the shot fades to black.
So the film thus turns full circle and has become as much about the development of Xiao and the freeing of his spirit as about Shezad and his struggle against deportation. Central to all this is the idea of friendship, that by helping each other we can all move on in this world, despite the hindrances that seem forever to prevail. In what could be a description of the oppressive forces the world over, as Xiao said in the second Volkswagen scene, "Wang is a bad boss, but he has good money. Udo is a bad cook, but he has a good job."
Pete Scully, January 1999