Eye On Juliet

Eye On Juliet is a compelling drama film woven expertly with flavors of romance, technology, and human connection. Directed by Kim Nguyen (War Witch, Two Lovers and a Bear), this cross-cultural tale of love and communication is not your usual boy-meets-girl story. Released in 2017, the film stars Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, A Prayer Before Dawn) and Lina El Arabi (Mon roi, Arabic Hepta: The Last Lecture). Supporting actors include Brent Skagford (Quantum, Source Code) among others.

Eye On Juliet pivots around the journey of two main characters drawn from opposite parts of the world: Gordon, a high-tech operator from Detroit, and Ayusha, a young woman trapped in the sociocultural landscape of North Africa. The narrative is third-wave tech-driven, putting the characters through a whirlwind of emotional upheaval, soul-searching quests, and the process of building a connection against all odds.

Joe Cole's character, Gordon, is a drone operator who was recently dumped by his girlfriend. Anxious, downcast, and lonely, Gordon seeks solace in the intricate world of technology. He oversees operations of hexapod drones, highly equipped robotic machines that are used to safeguard oil pipelines between North Africa and Europe. These machines are equipped with advanced surveillance systems, offering a clear window to the far-flung locales they operate in.

The emotionally hollow Gordon finds a semblance of escape and connection in the form of monitoring an Arab woman from afar, Ayusha, played by Lina El Arabi. Ayusha’s story runs parallel to that of Gordon's loneliness; she is caught in an arranged marriage that she wants no part of. Instead, she dreams of a future with her lover, uprooting themselves and escaping to Europe to forge their own destinies. Her dreams of a better life beyond the arid dunes of her native land are a stark contrast to her reality.

A chance interaction catapults these two disparate lives into a relationship that is as tender as it is unorthodox. Gordon starts communicating with Ayusha through the drone, deploying a blend of technology and empathy. His limited understanding of Ayusha's world, culture, and language are initially a hindrance but soon become the source of their connection. Their interaction begins as a mutual act of consolation, but gradually, they find a deeper connection with each other.

Gordon and Ayusha are confined by different types of walls - Gordon’s corporate confines and Ayusha’s social ones. Through them, Nguyen explores themes of emotional vulnerability, the human longing for connection, and how technology can coexist at both ends of the spectrum – isolation and connection.

The film creates a weave of expectations, cultural clashes, distance, frustration, and hope. It offers an exploration of how technology, when wielded with empathy, can help blur borders, breach barriers, and bring hearts together despite thousands of miles apart. The story is not just a progression of their relationship but also a depiction of their personal evolution as they confront their individual circumstances.

The cinematography of Eye On Juliet deserves praise for its phenomenal representation of stark contrasts. The below-freezing temperature of Montreal standing in for Detroit versus the sweltering Moroccan desert creates a vivid visual counterpoint to the underlying narrative. Scenes are filmed with an intelligent eye, expressing various moods and transitions in the storyline effectively.

The performances of both Joe Cole and Lina El Arabi brilliantly capture the feeling of being trapped and the longing for connection and escape. While Cole portrays Gordon as a man in search of connection beyond his metallic world, El Arabi's portrayal of Ayusha brings to life an individual determined to escape her rigid societal bindings.

Eye On Juliet is arguably a love story, but it brews a complex narrative that validates technology’s power to separate and also bridge distances. It is as much an exploration of the human capacity for connection as it is a critique of how technology shapes our lives. The film approaches real-world cultural issues with sensitivity, a mark of Kim Nguyen's trademark storytelling. It creates a thoughtful, empathetic, and nuanced portrait of human connection and empathy in the age of technology, leaving audiences with a reflective lens on the world around them.